Mercedes’ Andrew Shovlin: “Fingers crossed we can move forward overnight”

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team believe they have some idea of what direction they need to go with set-up for this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, but their inability to get enough heat into their tyres is making it difficult for the team.

Lewis Hamilton finished seventh fastest when conditions were warmer in the morning session at Albert Park, but neither he nor team-mate George Russell broke into the top ten in the afternoon when temperatures dropped by around ten degrees Celsius.

Andrew Shovlin, the Track Engineering Director at Mercedes, says failing to get their tyres up to the correct working temperatures is hurting the team, but without confidence in the car, the drivers will not be able to carry the speeds through the corners needed to increase those temperatures.

Shovlin says they are in a ‘vicious cycle’ as a result of this, and if they can get over the tyre temperature problems, the team should be able to find a good amount of lap time to bring them into contention.

“We’re finding it hard to generate tyre temperature here so that’s the big thing we need to work on overnight,” said Shovlin.  “We were clearly more competitive in the first session than in the cooler conditions of the afternoon session, and the data we’re seeing from the car is supporting the fact we’re just not hot enough.

“If we can improve that then it’s quite possible to find a good amount of grip but at the moment, we’re in a vicious circle where the drivers don’t have the confidence to carry the speed through the faster corners, and it’s that speed that will generate the temperature we desperately need.

“So, not an easy day overall but we’re getting used to those this year. We already have some ideas of which direction we can go with the setup and will do more work overnight in Brackley to understand those changes better, so fingers crossed we can move forward overnight.”