Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin says a drop in performance for the German team could be due to changes it made to the W16 over the season

Mercedes, the long-time supplier since 1996, now shares safety car duties with Aston Martin – a move that introduced a new look to the series. While both manufacturers bring powerful, race-prepared machines to serve the same role, the Aston Martin Vantage and the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series are far from identical.