Mercedes’ Andrew Shovlin: “The car has been a lot easier to balance here than in Spa”

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team kicked off their Dutch Grand Prix weekend in impressive fashion as George Russell was able to top the timesheet in first practice, while Lewis Hamilton was able to finish both sessions inside the top three.

Hamilton finished just over two-tenths of a second behind his teammate during the opening session of the weekend. The seven-time world champion was then able to finish over two and a half tenths ahead of Russell during second practice.

Mercedes struggled considerably with their one-lap pace in Spa last time out, before the strong race pace of the W13 was able to guide George Russell home for a fourth-place finish at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Trackside Engineering Director of the Brackley-based team, Andrew Shovlin, revealed that despite the strong showing today, the team would still need to work overnight to improve their performance on single laps and on the long runs.

Shovlin touched on how both drivers had not yet found the perfect balance of the W13, and with considerable work on the car and setup expected overnight, the team could challenge Scuderia Ferrari and Oracle Red Bull Racing in qualifying tomorrow.

“The car has been a lot easier to balance here than in Spa and we look to be in a better place in terms of pace; we’re still missing a bit on single lap and long run but the gaps are a lot better than last week. The sessions were a bit messy with a few red flags but we managed to tick off our test items and have a decent idea where we are going with the car spec for tomorrow.

“Neither driver has the balance where they want it yet and both felt the car was a little easier to drive in the morning. In the afternoon, we were understeering in some places and lacking stability in others. Not major issues but ones we are going to need to put right overnight if we plan on giving Red Bull and Ferrari any trouble tomorrow.”
 

Credit: Daimler AG