Valtteri Bottas says Mercedes expect Ferrari to have the upper hand in the Canadian Grand Prix, despite the Silver Arrows taking upgraded engines for the Montreal weekend. Although Bottas and Lewis Hamilton have a power gain to look forward to, the Finn says Ferrari's engines remain more powerful.
The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve's longer straights are expected to play into the hands of the SF90, although Mercedes' upgrade was thought to potentially address the balance.
But Bottas says he and Hamilton will not have it all their own way, in a race that Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel won from pole last year.
"We are expecting obviously already from a fresh engine a tiny bit of power gain, but we are expecting a small step forward," he said.
"We don't think it is quite yet enough to match Ferrari's straight-line speed. They will have the upper hand on that, but we will have our strengths in other areas. I look forward to trying it.
"I think it is coming at the right time because the first engine is running towards the end of its life so we definitely needed a new one anyway.