Mercedes more "stable" with Austria upgrade

The Brackley team has brought its biggest set of updates seen thus far this season, with a focus on the sidepods and bargeboard area.

Bottas reported that the rear of the car felt more stable, and suggested that could be a help with tyre management in Sunday’s race.

“The initial feeling is they really worked well,” said the Finn. “So the team has done a really good job on that.

"Especially the rear end of the car felt really stable. We still actually have some balance work to do to get the most out of it.

“It feels good. It always can be better, but it’s a good start."

Asked if the changes would improve the tyre situation, he said: “I think so.

"Last year I think in the race I had severe blistering in the left rear, so definitely Sunday it’s going to be warmer, it could be an issue again, so at least today the rear felt good.

"Like I said, there’s still more laptime to be found with this configuration.”

Hamilton found the car to be even better than the one with which he won in France last weekend.

“I tried to look before I got in the car but I couldn’t really notice too many of the differences!,” he said. “But we do have an upgrade here, which is great to see.

“The car feels better in certain areas around the track, which is already great from last week.

"So more pieces, keep going guys, great job! I’m just going to keep pushing, trying to maximise, get more out of it.”