Mercedes F1 completed the hat-trick of races on the American continent with a fourth place for George Russell and a tenth position for Lewis Hamilton. Track engineering director Andrew Shovlin admits all three races have been disappointing for the Brackley team.
“It was a difficult hat-trick for the team, and the final day of competition continued in the same way” Shovlin said. “Qualifying and the race itself were bittersweet in Brazil.”
“Lewis struggled to gain confidence in the car and did not make it past Q1 in a session where several cars finished out of position; George was able to gain confidence particularly in the rear end and took a strong 2nd place on the grid.”
“The aborted start led to some unusual circumstances, but when the race proper began, George ran strong at the front of the field until the VSC came out along with a heavy rain shower.”
“We wanted to take this opportunity to change his worn intermediate tires and were followed into the pits by Norris in second place – while Verstappen and the Alpine drivers stayed on track and took the risk of a safety car or of a red flag, which then arrived. It probably cost us the victory.
“When the race resumed, with everyone on new tyres, George was able to overtake Leclerc to move into 4th position but then – as we saw – he found himself stuck behind an ultimately slower car and ‘couldn’t overtake, with no DRS available.’
“It was the same story for Lewis a little further on, who got back into the points but was unable to overtake Lawson despite several attempts” continues the engineer, who explains what consequences Mercedes must draw from this result.
“4th and 10th places seem like little reward after leading the first part of the race, but we have a lot to learn from this weekend and the last three races. We will focus on this work in the days to come, to give us the best foundations for the last treble of the season.”
Belgium
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