During the first day of track time at Spa-Francorchamps, Mercedes appeared less brilliant than in recent outings, in which it won two races with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
The W15s, especially Hamilton’s, showed a significant speed deficit on the long straights of the Belgian track and at the end of the day the gap of 9 tenths attributable to the slowness on the straights is a clear symptom not of the poor competitiveness of the Silver Arrow number 44 in an absolute sense, but of the strategic error of overloading it aerodynamically.
“It was a bad day for us,” Hamilton said at the end of the second free practice session at Spa. “Obviously the feeling with the car has been very good in the last two races. Today, however, things were completely different.”
“We worked on it. The first session wasn’t great, but then in the second session we made some changes and started again really well. But then when I went to the Soft tyres to simulate qualifying I couldn’t improve.”
George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
“We have some balance issues on the lap and in the second session things went better. The problem is also that the opponents have improved. So being 1.2 seconds behind is not the best.”
Lewis, however, ran the first two free practice sessions with a very loaded rear wing configuration. This meant that the 7-time world champion paid the price on the long straights without gaining as much as hoped in the central sector, the guided part of the track.
George Russell found himself on the same page as Hamilton in terms of feelings and, consequently, also statements.
“We have some work to do. I think McLaren is definitely a step ahead of us at the moment, as is Red Bull. So, we just have to continue to make our assessments.”
“I think the McLarens were at full power, and that allows them to gain a couple of tenths on this track. I’m sure that with the work done during the night we can find more performance. We often have had very good Fridays and then, on Saturday, the others have caught up with us. This time we hope to be the ones to do the opposite.”
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