Valtteri Bottas Clears the Confusion Surrounding Mercedes’ Upgrades After 2021 F1 Summer Break

The 2021 season has been a mouth-watering battle between Mercedes and Red Bull so far. Both the title contenders are pushing each other to the limit, trying to develop their respective cars to get crucial results for the championship.

However, Valtteri Bottas of the Silver Arrows has stated they are no longer developing their W12 contender, but certain parts are coming in that have already been developed in the wind tunnel.

As the teams headed into the summer break, it was the Brackley-based squad that led the standings with 303 points. While their rivals from Milton-Keynes are down in second place with 291 points under their belt.

The upcoming race at Spa for the Belgium GP might prove to be an interesting one, as Mercedes may have stopped developing their car, Red Bull will see this as an opportunity to regain their lead in the title race.

Valtteri Bottas confirms Mercedes are focused on next year’s car

With the new regulations set to enter Formula One next year, teams might look to reallocate their resources on developing their 2022 car. Hence, Mercedes will turn their attention to strengthening their next year’s potential title contender instead of their current one.

Speaking to Jeff Yeung with HyperBeast, being asked about the progress of their current car. Bottas replied, “The fact is that we’re not developing the current car anymore at the factory.”

“But there are still improvements to come, because obviously once you discover something in the wind tunnel, there’s a delay before you actually get the parts onto the track. So it doesn’t matter like this.”

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“We had some new parts in Silverstone and I hope that we’re going to have some more later on, but at some point that will have to stop, because obviously next year there’s a big regulation change and the team needs to balance out the car’s performance this year versus next year,” Bottas concluded.

Can the Finn bounce back in Belgium?

The recent Hungarian GP is something the 31-year-old would like to forget, as in the opening laps chaos ensued. Bottas locked up and hit the McLaren of Lando Norris and in a matter of seconds, hit the two Red Bulls. The damage on his Mercedes was severe that he had to retire from the race.

However, things got worse for the Finnish driver, as he was served with a five-place grid penalty which comes into effect at the Belgium GP, later this month.

But, the number 77 driver isn’t one to give up and will look to overcome the obstacles that he will face at the next race of the season. He will hope to redeem himself and bring crucial points for his team to help them in their fight for the championship.

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