Mercedes' changes and 'bullying' plan should please Lewis Hamilton and George Russell

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have spent much of their partnership dealing with tough times on the track by Mercedes' usual standards. But the pair may be pleased to hear team bosses are encouraging a "bullying" approach to the grid in the near future.

The Silver Arrows enjoyed their best result of the campaign to date at Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix, where Russell bagged third place and finished one position ahead of Hamilton. That marked the Formula 1 giant's first podium finish of 2024, and technical director James Allison appears hungry for more.

Speaking from an engineering perspective, the team chief spoke about giving his drivers a car that allows them to enforce a pace from the front of the grid. And although he raised some caution for the upcoming races, Allison sounded hopeful Russell and Hamilton would soon be a more frequent sight at the top end of the finishing places.

"The changes we have made are making this car a better car and that will be true at every circuit we go to," he said, per Motorsport.com. "The characteristics of Montreal make it look a little quicker than we have a natural right to command at the coming races.

"In Barcelona, I think it more likely that we will be competitive, but not right at the front because the next tracks are a little bit of a sterner test of a car. Hot asphalt, wider cornering speeds. However, I also know what we have got coming. I also know what we are planning to further improve the car.

"Our challenge is just to keep those upgrades arriving at a pace that the others cannot keep up with and in doing that, just bullying our car to the front by virtue of the effort made by everybody here over the coming weeks and months to get the car so that it can have its Montreal weekend or better at any track that we face in the future."

It's been another disappointing season thus far for Mercedes overall, with the team currently fourth in the constructor standings and almost 100 points off third. McLaren's recent rise has further exposed the Silver Arrows' decline in recent years, with both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri ahead of Hamilton and Mercedes in the drivers' standings.

Montreal marked the first time this year that Hamilton has finished inside the top five at any race on his ninth attempt. However, he did record the fastest lap for the second race weekend running, while Russell had the honour of starting on pole.

Ahead of Hamilton's switch to Ferrari next year, those are all extremely positive signs for the team that was for so long the dominant superpower in F1. However, there's still a long way to go before the overlords at Red Bull will feel any genuine pressure from Brackley.

The campaign resumes in Catalonia on June 22, a race in which both Mercedes drivers managed to notch podium finishes last year. Russell finished second to Max Verstappen while Hamilton accepted third, and needless to say the Silver Arrows hierarchy would take a repeat of that result in their current position.