Mercedes F1 hoped to be able to fight against McLaren in Miami, especially after promising qualifications. Unfortunately, despite the good performances of George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, they could not fight against the Woking single -seaters.
“George made a superb race and gave everything to finish third. He was still maturing, fully operating the car. The gap with the McLaren was obviously important” said Toto Wolff, the director of Mercedes.
“It is disappointing, but we work hard to make improvements which, hope, will make it possible to fill it. We have noticed performance fluctuations during the first six races, and certain weekends, other teams are in the lead, but it is the team to beat currently.”
“Kimi, meanwhile, has demonstrated all his talent this weekend, but he made a race that will allow him to learn from it. This is completely normal for a beginner pilot, who is only 18 years old.”
“Race management will follow as it will gain experience, and we are impatiently awaiting the triplet of European Grands Prix. The next race will mark the very first Grand Prix at home in Kimi, Imola, and I’m sure he is looking forward to him.”
Andrew Shovlin, director of track engineering, welcomes the Russell podium and the paid strategy that Mercedes hoped by starting the Briton in hard tires: “Congratulations to George for his fourth podium of the season. We have benefited from the deployment of the virtual safety car to get ahead of Verstappen, but it is always one of the advantages of starting with a long relay.”
“We had chosen to have George in a gum lasts for this reason, and this decision proved to be paid. We also estimated the probability of a race in the rain at around 50 %, but despite a cell closer incredibly, the rain spared us.”
“If George benefited from the virtual security car, Kimi lost ground by stopping just before his intervention. We had to stop the protecting him from Albon who had the opportunity to do the Undercut. A little traffic in the lane lane cost him dearly and, finally, his rhythm in a hard gum relegated it to 6th place. This weekend was nevertheless a good weekend for a good weekend for a good weekend Kimi, who continues his development. “
“McLaren has once again dominated the peloton and we work hard to fill this gap. Overall, we leave Miami satisfied to have added points to our counter compared to Red Bull and Ferrari, but aware that we have work to fight at the forefront every weekend. Our speed on a tower has been an asset, but we have to improve our rhythm on the long relay. progress in this area from Imola in two weeks. “
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