toto and lewis

Mercedes admits it ought to have listened to Russell in Japan

Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin says the crew ought to have adopted George Russell’s name and waited one other lap earlier than pitting the Briton for inters in final weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix. In a bid to place each its drivers on the sooner intermediate tyre as quickly as attainable within the race, Mercedes double-stacked Lewis Hamilton and Russell. However sluggish execution by Hamilton’s crews delayed Russell’s change by three seconds which dropped him from P7 all the way in which all the way down to 14th, behind Lando Norris and Yuki Tsunoda, from the place he was pressured to battle his means by the sphere. Shovlin mentioned the crew had knowledgeable Russell that the “inters are faster”, so the earlier the swap the higher. However the Briton requested to “keep out”, to which he was advised that he would lose ten seconds staying on the complete moist tyres. In hindsight, Mercedes’ resolution to herald Russell proved expensive. Learn additionally: Hamilton ‘had a blast’ racing Ocon in Suzuka ‘dash’ “We have gone by all of the timing of that and we’ve concluded that no, it wasn’t the best resolution,” defined Shovlin. “We should always have accomplished what George was asking which was to provide him the lap in in clear air. “Now, we had seen that the intermediates had been rather a lot faster, so on the wets you’ll have misplaced time on monitor. “However the issue was George and Lewis had been a bit too shut for us to have the ability to do the pit-stop with out shedding a while and that point in the end price George the place to Tsunoda and probably even the place to Lando. “It gave him a bit extra of a problem to take care of having to move these automobiles to try to discover any clear air.” ©Mercedes Sadly, a technique misstep wasn’t the one issue that impacted Mercedes’ race at Suzuka. From the outset, the Brackley squad, which anticipated a moist weekend, had opted for a high-downforce set-up. That alternative penalized the straight-line pace of Mercedes’ W13 in a race through which DRS was by no means activated. “We determined to remain at our highest downforce stage, and a part of that call was that it was truly giving us the very best lap occasions within the race,” defined Shovlin. “We had been going to get excessive degradation within the dry, however we had additionally seen this rain that was coming in on Sunday and we felt that in a moist race that may be a profit. “Because it occurs, the DRS was by no means enabled, and that meant that overtaking was very, very exhausting and maybe the best resolution would have been a decrease downforce setting.” The W13’s important lack of downforce this season, a deficit embedded within the ground-effect automobile’s design, is a significant weak point that Mercedes admits it might want to right for 2023. “Essentially, one of many issues that we have to enhance on the automobile for subsequent 12 months is to get the automobile to have extra downforce on the decrease drag ranges,” insisted Shovlin. “Then we are able to race these lighter wings and nonetheless be aggressive within the corners.” Hold updated with all of the F1 information by way of Fb and Twitter The put up Mercedes admits it ought to have listened to Russell in Japan appeared first on F1i.com. Originally published at Sunshine Coast QLD News

A whole second of the Red Bulls & Ferrari for the Merc still. Ouch. The race pace is usually better. I still cannot wait to see the back of the W13. I hope the W14 is better

We had two good races and are back to our actual pace. Or quali pace. Let's see what happens. MV seemed very trigger happy this weekend and can't deal with stress as we know, Charles will probably do anything, Ferrari will Ferrari and RBR will retire Cheatco to give MV the title. We're faster than the Alpine's and have the better race day duo aside from the fact that Ocon not letting Alonso past led to a tauntrum from Alonso which led to him fucking off to Aston

Hamilton and Russell say Mercedes should be in a 'better window' at Zandvoort

After Mercedes – and the rest of the field – struggled to keep up with the Red Bulls in Belgium, Lewis Hamilton has said that the team should fare better at Zandvoort, while team mate George Russell urged the team to overcome their qualifying struggles. Hamilton crashed out on Lap 1 of the Belgian Grand Prix after an impact that measured 45g and threatened to cause terminal damage to his W13. After his first DNF of the season, he looks to bounce back at Zandvoort – where rival Max Verstappen dominated his home Grand Prix in 2021. After disappointment in Belgium, Hamilton was asked if they would perform better at Zandvoort. “We hope so. It should be in a slightly better window this weekend, yeah,” said Hamilton on Thursday. FORM GUIDE: The fans back Verstappen to deliver again at Zandvoort – but will it be that simple? “Last weekend it didn’t look good and all that confidence that we built over five races kind of, it was like a ‘two steps forward and five back’ kind of feeling, but I think it was maybe a one-off, particularly with that track, and so yes, I’m definitely hoping. “I think it’s going to be hard to beat the Red Bulls so it’s going to need something to come away and open up and create that opportunity, but that’s always possible, so we’ll see.” ONBOARD: Hamilton and Alonso's views of their first-lap collision at Spa Hamilton also praised Russell for his P4 finish at Spa, and said that he himself could have finished second if not for that Lap 1 retirement. “George did a great job in the last race, as he continues to do during the year,” continued Hamilton. “It’s definitely tough because I think I probably could have come second in the last race if I’d done the job I was supposed to do, but you live and you learn. “We don’t have the pace, naturally, over a single lap – that’s something that we’re trying to work on – but race pace is definitely key in some places, so I’m thinking that we just have to keep on working on that, not lose our race potential, but try and improve our single lap [pace].” READ MORE: Mercedes strategy chief says Hamilton determined to 'fight' at Zandvoort after enduring 45g impact in Belgium Russell and Hamilton were both disappointed to miss out on the podium in Belgium Russell echoed Hamilton’s comments about Mercedes’ single lap pace and discussed the Silver Arrows’ chances at Zandvoort. “[Being faster in the race than in qualifying has] definitely been a bit of a theme for us this season: we’re still yet to fully understand why we have such a big swing, to be honest. The swing is probably less compared to Red Bull but when you look at it compared to the midfield, we’re often being outqualified by an Alpine or a McLaren. “I was pretty disappointed not to get third position [in Belgium] because I thought had I done things slightly differently it would have been possible, but we just need to overcome our single lap struggles. READ MORE: Verstappen looking forward to ‘amazing atmosphere’ on return to Zandvoort as champion “It’s a shorter lap [at Zandvoort than at Spa], so I don’t think the gaps will be as big! I think, I’m sure Max and Red Bull are going to be in prime position and they’re going to be very competitive. “We’ve got reason to believe that it may be slightly better than Spa, but I think Spa was also a circuit that brought out the worst in our car, so to be honest, we’re always going in with an open mind now.” via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

Single problem may explain why Mercedes are getting it wrong with car Wolff | 2022 Belgian Grand Prix

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says their huge performance swings in last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix show they are still suffering “non-correlation” between design and reality with their 2022 car. The team qualified poorly: Their top car was 1.8 seconds off the pace, set by Red Bull. Although Lewis Hamilton and George Russell started fourth and fifth on the grid they were promoted from seventh and eighth by penalties for their rivals. However, while Hamilton retired following a first-lap collision, Russell climbed to fourth at the finish, closing on the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz Jnr over the final laps. Wolff admitted the difficulty the team is having in understanding its car was hampering their development of the W13. He was unable to point out which part of the design needs to be looked at as a priority to increase the car’s performance, but conceded there could be a single shortcoming which is causing other problems. “Today, we’re getting it wrong. The non-correlation in the various areas is causing us not performing,” he said. “Now, maybe there is a single thing that overshadows everything, and therefore we are not doing it justice to question really every part of the car. “Are the tyres something that we fundamentally don’t understand and actually all the rest is good? Or is the aero messing it up, or the mechanical balance? I think that is so difficult to dissect. And that’s to the point of if you never lose, you learn.” Mercedes’ performance had been “totally sub-par” in qualifying but much more competitive in the race, Wolff admitted. “[We were] beaten by the Alpines, Albon very strong, Valtteri right there, Norris probably. “Then in the race at times we go three seconds a lap faster. There’s big question marks about what’s going on. It’s not where we should be. We have the structure and the knowledge to understand a racing car, but we don’t with this one.” However Wolff said the team will continue to tackle their problems in the same way as before. “I can tell you it’s fucking difficult, all these nice Instagram posts and everything we talked about for eight years, how we’re going to take this when you’re right in there in the dungeon, to stick to your principles and to your values, keep the spirit up and really continue to relentlessly seek to get better. There’s more to write a book about this year than there is about the last eight years.” While he remains confident the team still have a chance to win a race before the season is over, Wolff admitted the W13 is “not going to have the highest place in the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. “It’s maybe going to go in a little bit of a case.” 2022 F1 season Browse all 2022 F1 season articles via RaceFans - Independent Motorsport Coverage https://www.racefans.net

Hamilton calls 1.8s gap in qualifying 'a kick in the teeth' as Russell predicts Verstappen will win Belgian GP

The deflated Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell ended up seventh and eighth fastest respectively in Spa qualifying, forcing them to reflect on a tough day in the office – with Hamilton calling the gap to pace-setter Verstappen “a kick in the teeth”, as Russell even predicted a win for the Dutchman, despite Verstappen’s P15 starting position after grid penalties. Hamilton will start the race in fourth – after being promoted up the order due to Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Esteban Ocon’s engine penalties – but the Briton could not hide his disappointment at the 1.8s gap to Verstappen’s fastest Q3 time, even admitting he would not miss driving the W13 at the end of the year. “I mean, obviously everyone is working for improvements. And we came here very, very optimistic that we are going to be able to be close [the gap to Red Bull and Ferrari],” said Hamilton. “Half a second, who knows, but to be 1.8s behind is a real kick in the teeth. But it is what it is. It’s a car that we continue to struggle with and I definitely won’t miss it at the end of the year. READ MORE: Verstappen aims to ‘survive Lap 1’ and take podium as dominant qualifying win turns to P15 on grid “For me, it’s just about focusing on how we build and design next year’s car. The other two teams ahead of us are in another league, but our car looks so much different to theirs. So, we will do the best we can for the rest of the season.” When asked about what Mercedes could hope for in the race, Hamilton said: “I don’t know. We can say top five, that would be nice, but the car is not particularly top five speed this weekend, so just keep it on track and see where we come.” Lewis Hamilton: Gap to leaders 'a kick in the groin' but Mercedes will 'keep fighting' in Belgian GP When asked to reflect on his own qualifying, Russell – who will start fifth, having claimed his maiden pole position in Hungary last time out – said: “We’ve gone from pole in the last race, and we are 1.8s off today, and not obviously just to Max but we were six-tenths behind the Alpines. Always when the temperature is cold, we struggle. We saw it in Imola this year, we’ve seen it in many other Fridays, when it’s been a cool Friday, we just can’t seem to get the tyres working. FACTS AND STATS: A best Spa start for Alonso for 15 years, as Verstappen looks to the history books “So, it’s pretty frustrating. I’m confident we will have a lot more pace tomorrow compared to the Alpines, the McLarens and the Williams as well. But we will still probably be half a second to a second behind Red Bull and Ferrari.” He continued: “We are Mercedes, P7 and P8 is not where we want to be, and we know that’s not where the car is. We know we probably don’t have the fastest car, or the second fastest car, but we definitely have a car that is capable of more than P8 and P7, so we’ve got work to do.” Russell predicted that Mercedes would struggle to get another podium finish in tomorrow's race Looking ahead to tomorrow’s race, Russell admitted a podium finish is unlikely for the Silver Arrows, as he predicted that Verstappen’s pace this weekend would see the Red Bull driver win the Grand Prix. READ MORE: Szafnauer 'very confident' that Piastri contract ruling will fall on Alpine's side “I think Max will probably still win the race,” said Russell. “I don’t know where he is going to be starting but with the pace he has got he will probably still win the race. And Charles [Leclerc] as well, he will probably still come through. “So, I think it is unlikely that we will be on the podium tomorrow in all honesty, because we’ve still got Carlos [Sainz] and Checo [Perez] there and Max is going to slice through the field pretty quickly. So, I don’t know. We will need to look overnight, try and understand it. Qualifying is out of the way, which has been our weak point, and we’ll try and be faster tomorrow.” via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

Mercedes have made a step forward as Hamilton ends practice second | 2022 British Grand Prix

Mercedes are confident they’ve made progress with their W13 at Silverstone this weekend after an encouraging start to practice for the team. Lewis Hamilton ended Friday’s running with the second-fastest time, 0.163 seconds off Carlos Sainz Jnr’s Ferrari. “It does look like we’ve made a step forward because we’re not normally up near the top on a Friday,” admitted Mercedes’ head of trackside engineering Andrew Shovlin. “I suspect there’ll be a bit more to come from Ferrari and a bit more to come from Red Bull,” he told Sky. “But the long-run work was quite encouraging as well, those are overlaying quite nicely. “Normally we see the sort of gap of half a second, maybe even seven, eight tenths to the faster teams on a long run. And that didn’t look like it was there.” Mercedes expected to be more competitive at Silverstone which is a faster, smoother layout than other tracks. “Probably a bit is the circuit suiting the car,” said Shovlin. “There’s definitely a lot to work on, there’s a lot of bouncing around and it’s tricky in the high-speed at the moment. But hopefully the updates pushed us in the right direction.” The team has brought a package of aerodynamic improvements to its car this weekend to extract more performance from it. Shovlin said the team believes it now has a better understanding of what brings out the best and the worst from the W13. “What’s encouraging is not so much the circuit as just to say that there are circuits where the car works well. We just had three pretty bumpy low-speed street circuits, we’ve understood why we were struggling there a bit. “So it’s more that we’re starting to know why it’s good here, we know why it’s bad there. And we can try and improve it.” Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free 2022 British Grand Prix Browse all 2022 British Grand Prix articles via RaceFans - Independent Motorsport Coverage https://www.racefans.net

People wouldnt expect it Russell reveals surprise area where Hamilton has impressed him

George Russell believes he is in a “privileged position” driving alongside team mate Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, as he also revealed the qualities of the seven-time champion that have proven most impressive. Russell has achieved three podium finishes in his first season as a full-time Mercedes driver, finishing no worse than P5 in every race of 2022 so far, and he currently leads Hamilton by 34 points in the drivers' championship. And when he was asked to evaluate his 2022 season so far, Russell believes that there is room for improvement, but he quickly turned the attention to Hamilton, revealing that he has felt inspired by watching his team mate work behind the scenes. POWER RANKINGS: Who made it into the top 10 after the Canadian Grand Prix? “I think it's been not a bad start to the season personally,” said Russell. “There is definitely room to improve in certain areas and I think obviously in a really privileged position being team mates with Lewis and learning so much from him – how he works, how he goes about his business with his engineers, how he gets sort of the whole team motivated – it's quite inspiring to see. “Also on the technical side, he's pretty impressive, which a lot of people probably won't recognise or appreciate. Definitely room to improve but I think in terms of results it's been fine. I don't think we could have probably achieved much higher results when I look at the season rationally. Probably other than Bahrain, we've probably finished as high as we could in every single race.” Lewis Hamilton claims his second podium of the 2022 Formula 1 season Russell is the only driver on the grid to score points in every race so far, and while he might have hoped to have been a race winner by this point in the season, the Briton has been able to look at the positives, believing that he and Mercedes have achieved the best results possible as they develop their W13. “You’ve got to look at the positives, and you've got to look at things rationally. And we can't be disappointed that we haven't won a race this season with the package we've had. And we're in this development phase and I think it's been pretty well optimised. READ MORE: 'One swallow doesn't make a summer' says Mercedes boss Wolff, as he warns of long road ahead for Silver Arrows “As a team, I think we've done a great job to maximise the points available to us. So, you've got to take that as a positive and try and continue this momentum forward. And hopefully when we have a faster car, we'll be in good shape to fight for those victories.” Mercedes, Russell and Hamilton enter their home race hoping to uphold a stellar record at Silverstone, the Silver Arrows having taken eight of the last 10 British Grand Prix victories. via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

Red Bull and Ferrari are too far ahead' says Russell as Mercedes end Friday practice looking for pace

Neither George Russell nor Lewis Hamilton ended Friday practice satisfied with the performance of their Mercedes W13s, as both drivers looked back at a challenging opening day of the 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend. Russell finished eighth then seventh in the respective Baku practice sessions while Hamilton was sixth then 12th, facing a 1.6s deficit to leader Charles Leclerc in FP2. Russell explained that getting the tyres in the right temperature window was only “50%” of the puzzle as he recounted his day. FP2: Leclerc heads Red Bulls by over 0.2s in second Baku practice session “It was a tricky day, we weren’t as competitive as we would have liked. Again, a tricky track to get the tyres in the right window. You see with a number of drivers, their fastest laps were coming right at the end of the run, whereas Ferrari and Red Bull, they seemed to be able to turn it on. At the moment, they just have an inherently faster car than us and we’ve done everything we can to try and catch up. “If we’re totally on top of the tyres we’re not going to fully close that gap – or we’re definitely not going to close that gap, they’re just too far ahead. So that’s probably 50% of our issues – the rest is just the lack of performance we have at the moment.” Aggressive bouncing on the straights has been an ongoing struggle for Mercedes this season, and Russell confirmed that it was still affecting the Silver Arrows, despite the team having made some progress on the issue two races ago at Catalunya. “There was a little bit of it but it’s just that the cars are running so close to the ground, it’s crazy out there through those high-speed corners, the car’s fully bottoming out. I think it’s the same for everybody and it’s really not comfortable to drive.” READ MORE: Hamilton confirms he’s working with Brad Pitt on developing a Formula 1 movie Hamilton echoed his team mate’s comments: “There’s no other problems that have resurfaced; it’s the same, pretty much the same as in the last race, really. Mostly bouncing. We tried something experimental on my car and it didn’t feel that great, to be honest, but at least we tried it and got data on it, and now we’ll go through it and hopefully for tomorrow we’ll probably revert back to what we changed. “I just can’t really tell you where 1.6 seconds or 1.3s or whatever it is, that’s a long way away. A lot of it’s on straights…” The Silver Arrows sit a lonely third in the constructors' championship ahead of the 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with Russell looking to continue his season-long streak of top-five finishes. via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com