Hamilton ahead of Russell
For the first time at the beginning of the season, the qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix they ended with Lewis Hamilton further ahead on the starting grid than George Russell. The seven-time world champion, always behind his teammate in the previous GPs in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia, in fact finished ahead of his compatriot this time, even if there is little to celebrate for the future Ferrari driver.
Results and fines
In fact, issue #44 did not go beyond seventh positionwith his next teammate Charles Leclerc 8th sandwiched between him and Russell, the latter ninth and close to a relegation to the grid for a unsafe release occurred during Q1. In this regard, however, the Race Direction imposed a fine of 5,000 euros on Mercedes.
Not all bad
Fine and unsatisfactory track performance. Certainly not a Saturday to remember for the team principal Toto Wolff, who had also changed his decision to remain in Europe to manage operations remotely by joining the team in Japan. However, the starting grid also hides elements that should not be underestimated: “The result of P7 and P9 is not great – commented – the good thing, however, is that we're not too far from the second row, only a tenth or so, on a track that last year was one of the worst, if not the worst. Looks like we have this weekend took a step in the right direction with the car. Everyone is working hard to better understand the W15 and how to build the platform we have. Seeing progress is therefore encouraging. It's difficult to predict what tomorrow's race will be like. The group behind Red Bull is very compact, so we'll see what we can do. The data from Friday's long runs and today's qualifying demonstrate that the race could be close. We will try to maximize everything we do and the package we have to get the best possible result.”
#Wolff #positives #row
