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Mercedes is not running its new floor in Formula 1's Belgian Grand Prix even though it is optimistic the upgrade was not responsible for a tricky Friday practice.
Among Mercedes' upgrades coming into the Spa event were further updates to create additional load on the front of the floor and increase the diffuser's pulling power on the underfloor.
Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said it was "mainly about more downforce" rather than adjusting the car's characteristics but admitted "when you're developing, you're not completely in control of what you get".
"We'll see what we get here, hopefully it'll work well around this circuit and hopefully it'll give us another step in the right direction," he said.
The verdict was inconclusive after a difficult Friday, though, as George Russell and Lewis Hamilton ended FP2 sixth and 10th, both more than a second off the pace with signs of problematic bouncing and balance issues.
Mercedes opted to remove the floor and some accompanying bodywork to give itself a known baseline for the wet weather that was forecast for qualifying.
It is not jumping to the conclusion that the updated floor triggered the issues the drivers experienced in FP2. One variable cited is the resurfaced track, while another is that this track - with its unique demands and elevation - has caused Mercedes grief in past seasons as well.
Russell declared himself "pretty confident those upgrades were working as expected", and the implication is that it could be the way the car is being run, or something more fundamental, that triggers some negative traits.
"It was important for us to revert to something we know, and see, in the race, if it's a challenge with Spa for us, which I'm pretty confident it is as opposed to the upgrade," said Russell.
"The upgrades were nothing substantial; it’s just sort of part of the development of the course of the year.
"And it gives us time now to sort of review all the data from yesterday [Friday] and go from there."
Mercedes will investigate whether the update hasn’t worked as expected having opted for pragmatism for the rest of this weekend just in case.
That looked to have paid off in qualifying in which Russell was only seventh but Hamilton was a more competitive fourth, just under seventh tenths slower than Max Verstappen. They will start third and sixth as Verstappen has a grid penalty.
Hamilton said there was "no relief" at his performance based on the floor change, but instead "because it was raining", and said Mercedes would have been fighting for a top-three starting position in the dry.
And in the end it was possible to be even better than fourth/an inherited third. Hamilton only had one set of new intermediates for Q3 so Mercedes decided to carry more fuel and do multiple laps "to try and land one with the driest conditions", said Shovlin.
"Had we not been carrying the fuel, we would have had the pace for second," Shovlin said. Hamilton also felt that a front row start was possible, but said the race could be less competitive.
"There's a slight chance we could maybe fight for a podium but I think it's going to be really tough," Hamilton said.
"We've got quicker McLarens behind, a quick Red Bull ahead, and another quick Red Bull that's going to come through.
"The race pace was strong for the other guys.
"I'm hoping the changes we've made overnight put the car maybe in a slightly better place and it's going to be how I drive it that will really seal the deal or [mean I] go backwards."
