'Phase Two' power unit arrives for Canada as Mercedes aim to counter Ferrari's expected straight-line power
Thursday 6 June 2019 23:57, UK
Mercedes are introducing their first engine upgrade of the 2019 season for this weekend's Canadian GP, ahead of a race they expect a tough fight with Ferrari.
The world champions had been the only one of F1's four engine manufacturers not to bring their second-spec 2019 unit to one of the season's opening six rounds, instead sticking to their plan to introduce 'Phase 2' in Montreal.
"It's always great having a new engine as it's fresh, this is a power circuit so it's come at the perfect time," said Lewis Hamilton.
"If you look at the previous years this is where we always bring our second engine. It's Phase 2 so it will have all new mods, slight improvements everywhere. It's not like at the beginning of the hybrid era where you took massive strides forwards, or even last year.
"It's just small steps. The biggest difference is that it's brand new, it's fresh."
Although Mercedes have won all six of 2019's races so far, team boss Toto Wolff says they are braced for a "huge challenge" in Canada given rivals Ferrari have led the way in straight-line performance this year.
The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve contains several long straights, plus slow and medium-speed turns, with traction out of the corners also a key required characteristic for cars.
"The guys back at Brixworth have been working incredibly hard. It's not been the easiest beginning of the year in terms of preparing the engine," added Hamilton.
"Whilst it's an evolution of previous years, each time you're always trying to push the envelope and there's so many people working so hard to improve it. It's not been the smoothest ride but we've had great reliability with the first engine."
Mercedes' customer teams, Racing Point and Williams, will also run the upgraded units this weekend.
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