The big four-week autumn break allowed the teams to recharge their batteries… without relieving the pressure! Indeed, Formula 1 is attacking an intense sequence of six races until the beginning of December, with two triple-header consecutive until the end of the season. A real final sprint to conclude this already completely crazy season, where nothing is yet decided in the two championships. And for Mercedes, this long break allowed the Brackley teams to work on the next races to come and in particular on the introduction of the latest developments of the season, planned for the United States Grand Prix in Austin this weekend.
If the Silver Arrows have almost nothing left to play in the championship on their side (Hamilton and Russell out of the race among the Drivers, Mercedes 4th among the Manufacturers with 112 points behind Ferrari), the German team intends to finish this season on a positive note. After a difficult start to the championship, Mercedes experienced an incredible surge before the summer break, securing three victories in four Grand Prix… before falling back into its setbacks since the start of the school year. In Singapore, the W15 notably suffered in the race against the McLarens and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.
“During the break, we will try to find a way to mitigate what we have been lacking [à Singapour]to find a way to improve the functioning of the tires on these circuits prone to overheating and we will also have a lot of work to perfect our latest developments of the season, James Allison declareddtechnical director of Mercedes, after the Asian round. We have a pretty big package of new items for the car in Austin that we hope will give us a good weekend. So we have to do all of that and get ready for these last races of the year. »
Mercedes – Hamilton, the end is approaching
Mercedes also wants to end the adventure well with Lewis Hamilton, who will leave the team at the end of the season to join Ferrari. The Briton was unable to celebrate his 350th Grand Prix in Singapore with dignity: the victim of a failed offbeat strategy, the seven-time world champion could not do better than 6th at the finish. The German team hopes to rectify the situation from the Texan round in Austin.
“Lewis has had a career that I think will never be matched by any other driver, and the fact that he has done all of this with one engine manufacturer, Mercedes, is particularly remarkable, underlines James Allison. We are coming to the end of our adventure with him and almost every weekend is a milestone that will never be repeated with Lewis. It’s a shame that it happened on a weekend when the car wasn’t very brilliant. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too far beyond the 350th Grand Prix – maybe we can celebrate the 351st with more fanfare in Austin. »
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