Mercedes counter Ferrari strength with 'perfectly timed' Canada upgrade

Mercedes hopes of continuing their clean sweep of the 2019 season at the Canadian Grand Prix have been boosted by the introduction of an upgraded power unit, potentially eating into the straight-line advantage that Ferrari might have expected to enjoy at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Ferrari brought their spec-two power unit for the season to Barcelona, two races ago, with Mercedes able to wait until the power-hungry Montreal to give fresh engines to Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and customer teams Racing Point and Williams.

Hamilton leads the championship after winning four of the opening six races, while Bottas was victorious in the other two, and the reigning champion says the upgrade comes at the most opportune moment.

"It's always great when you have a new engine, being that it's fresh," Hamilton said.

"This is a power circuit so it's come at the perfect time. If you look at previous years, this is the race we always bring our second engine.

"And it's phase two so it'll have all new mods, slight improvements everywhere. It's not a massive, it's not like at the beginning of the hybrid era where you took massive steps forward, it's just small steps.

"The biggest difference is it's brand new, it's fresh. The old engine that's done six races will have degradation etcetera.

"The guys have worked so hard, it's now small percentages but they're very much appreciated."

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