Mercedes keeps its spirits up: 'Less degradation than other teams'

Mercedes did not have a trouble-free first day in Monaco. The bouncing W13 made its return (although it was a different kind of bounce than before) and the drivers struggled to set good lap times. Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin explains the team's problems.

So far, the Monaco circuit does not seem to be a good combination with the W13. "We're struggling with the ride here and that's preventing us attacking the lap, especially on low fuel," Shovlin said in a Mercedes press release. According to the Brit, progress has been made between sessions, but the team is not yet where it wants to be.

Shovlin states that the tires worked well but that Lewis Hamilton was not able to get the most out of the soft tire. "It was difficult with traffic and Lewis had a few occasions where he was blocked," he continues.

The Mercedes chief promises that improvements will arrive over the course of the weekend, but at the same time realizes that this is also the case with other teams. He does speak of an "encouraging pace" in the long run.

"At least the consistency was good and we seemed to have less degradation than some others," he notes. However, he also acknowledges that that doesn't mean much when you're 'in a traffic jam' in Monaco. So plenty of homework for Mercedes, but the team is confident that it can still make strides.