Mercedes F1 had a difficult race in Qatar, with a lack of performance and many twists and turns that cost George Russell and Lewis Hamilton dearly. Toto Wolff, the team director, takes stock of this Sunday at Losail.
“In the race we didn't have the pace. Our car is difficult to drive on the worst days and this Sunday in Qatar was one of those days and both drivers had a similar experience” note Wolff.
“I think if the race had been held the day before we would have had a chance to win, but on Sunday we just didn't have the speed behind Lando [Norris] and Max [Verstappen].”
“The car was very difficult for Lewis and George to drive, we had a lot of understeer and both suffered from it. We started to lose ground to those in front of us and that's when “We decided to stop George to try to put ourselves in a better situation. Unfortunately, we suffered a slow stop and then got stuck in traffic and struggled to get back.”
“Then with Lewis we had a false start and speeding in the pit lane which further impacted his race as well as the lack of pace.”
Mercedes wants to finish its 2024 season well, and Wolff hopes to achieve a good final with Hamilton before his departure: “We have one left and we will continue to do our best. We will celebrate the relationship and partnership we have had with Lewis and these difficult races will soon be forgotten.”
“We had an incredible partnership with him that lasted over twelve years and saw us win six drivers' titles and eight constructors' titles together. These are things that are close to our hearts.”
A “very different” race from the Sprint for the W15s
Andrew Shovlin, director of on-track engineering at Mercedes, was surprised to have seen W15s during the race that were very different in their performance and behavior from what they were the day before during the Sprint.
“It was a difficult evening for the team. The underlying observation was that the balance of the car was very different to that of the Sprint. Both drivers were limited by severe understeer in the first stint and lacked pace with the cars around us.”
“However, we made too many other mistakes to get good finishing positions and eventually had the chance to save 4th place with George thanks to retirements or problems with the cars in front of him.”
“It's a valuable lesson in how quickly things can change since last week in Las Vegas. We've seen these kinds of swings in performance for all teams at different times throughout the season.”
“We have a lot to learn to improve and we will focus on that as we prepare for the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi – and we hope to give Lewis a fitting farewell.”
