The result of Mercedes in the second free practice can be called surprising. After a dominant weekend of Verstappen, last weekend Mercedes seems to have found something.
"It's been an interesting day; we'd been busy this week trying to find improvements on both the chassis and the power unit and from today's running it does look like we've made some steps in the right direction," engineer Andrew Shovlin told Mercedes' official press release.
Different conditions in Austria an advantage
Compared to last week, it will be cooler in Spielberg this weekend. Rain is also predicted on Sunday, something that could shake things up considerably. According to Shovlin, the new conditions are an advantage for the team.
"The conditions are quite different to last week, cooler air and a much cooler track which is certainly helping deal with the softer compounds. The single lap was encouraging in that we were extracting good grip from the tyres, not always something we have managed on the softest Pirelli rubber, but we're under no illusion that Red Bull will have plenty in hand for tomorrow," said the Mercedes engineer.