Mercedes Confirm ‘Minor Upgrades’ For Suzuka

Mercedes have confirmed they will introduce ‘minor upgrades’ to their W10 car for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix. The Silver Arrows could secure a sixth successive Constructors’ Championship title if they deliver a strong result in Suzuka and they will head into the race on the back of a one-two finish for Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in Russia last time out.

Hamilton’s win in Sochi brought to an end Ferrari’s three-race winning streak, with the Scuderia having impressed since the summer break and this has prompted Mercedes to respond by making changes to their car, particularly as Suzuka is one of the sport’s most flowing and downforce-critical circuits.

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“The win in Sochi doesn’t change the fact that Ferrari had a stronger start to the second part of the season than we did,” team principal Toto Wolff was quoted as saying by Sky Sports. “We’ll bring some minor upgrades to the car in Japan which will hopefully help us take a step in the right direction; however, we know that we need to extract absolutely everything from our car and the tyres if we want to be able to challenge for a win.”

Mercedes do have an impressive record in Japan, as they have won the Grand Prix in each of the last five years, with Drivers’ Championship leader Hamilton having claimed four of those successes.