Mercedes could have F1 upgrades in Saudi Arabia to help Lewis Hamilton title challenge

Mercedes are aiming to bring upgrades to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as they hunt down early Formula 1 season frontrunners Ferrari and Red Bull.

The Silver Arrows have built the fastest car every since year since 2014 but are off the pace this time around with a design which is simply not as fast as those operated by its biggest rivals.

F1 has entered a new era of car design this year, with a regulation change in which has been devised to allow drivers to follow one another more closely, race each other harder, and theoretically overtake more frequently. That means every team has has to create their 2022 machinery from scratch, and the grid order has been shaken up.

Previous backmarkers Haas and Alfa Romeo scored strong points at the season opener in Bahrain, while the likes of Aston Martin and McLaren dropped towards the back of the pack. Lewis Hamilton earned a podium for Mercedes by virtue of finishing third behind the Ferraris after capitalising on Red Bull’s double retirement, but on true pace Mercedes were a long way behind their opponents and are unable to challenge for race victories without developments to their W13 car.

The first of those upgrades could be coming this weekend at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah according to trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin, as the team tries to improve its performance so that Hamilton can challenge for a record-breaking eighth world championship.

‘We just did a de-brief with the drivers and there is a lot of everything

‘There’s a lot to improve which gives us some encouragement. I think we’ll get some easy gains, there’s some low-hanging fruit and what we’re hoping is that we can get those in the next race or two.

‘The factory are primed to bring everything