Former F1 race engineer Rob Smedley expects Mercedes to hold an advantage over the field at the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend as it prepares to unveil a substantial upgrade package.
The Brackley-based squad has enjoyed a strong start to the new season, winning all four of the opening rounds.
It endured a more challenging outing last time out in Miami; however, it still came away with the race win through Kimi Antonelli.
The team is set to end the two-week break with the introduction of new parts in Montreal, which Smedley is confident will keep it at the front of the pack.
“Mercedes was still in front [in Miami], so on the presumption that the package they bring, at least some of it works, that should give them a net,” Smedley told High Performance Racing.
“They’re not going to be the only people bringing upgrades, but we know that Mercedes has already declared they’re bringing a reasonably big package.
“That will give them a net advantage. I think it is very much a power unit circuit.”
However, Smedley predicted Mercedes will still be in strong shape during the race weekend due to the layout of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Drivers are likely to face an increased challenge with energy management due to the long straights, something that was also evident in the early rounds, where Mercedes was dominant.
“There is a bit of a nuance here that we go back to with the power units, is that even though we had some regulation changes around the power unit in Miami, it helped to have this silly imbalance that we were seeing in the first races, especially in Japan,” he said.
“Don’t forget when we go back to Canada from the hairpin to the final chicane, there’s a very long straight.
“Then after the final chicane, you’ve got the pit straight, so you’re back to having this energy imbalance of how much energy you can deploy, and then you only get a little bit of harvesting at the chicane before you then have a very long straight again.
“It’s not like Miami, where you have a series of corners where I can harvest, then a short straight, a series of corners where I can harvest, a short straight.
“It’s a bit more like Suzuka.”
