Mercedes focus on hypersoft tyre going into Canada

Mercedes have announced they are working hard to understand the finer details of Pirelli’s hypersoft tyre. The German team experienced issues with the tyre in Monaco and want to remove the problem when the compound is used again in Canada.

The teams trackside engineering director, Andrew Shovlin admits his team are looking back at Monaco to find out why the Mercedes made the hypersoft grain more than rivals.

“We saw other people up and down the field in a similar situation, but crucially for us, the Red Bull looked stronger, and the Ferrari looked stronger,” said Shovlin.

The Montreal track will be less forgiving if Mercedes do experience a tyre issue. The track isn’t confined as Monaco is, and following cars will find it easier to overtake.

Shovlin went on to admit Mercedes made a mistake in Hamilton’s strategy in Monaco. He believes they should have run the hypersoft to supersoft strategy, similar to what Bottas did.

“We tried that tyre with Lewis on Thursday, and he’d found it a little bit difficult to generate the grip,” added Shovlin.