There is a certain euphoria in Mercedes. The best qualifying of the season for George Russell and the team ended with a fourth position at 0 ”643 from poleman Charles Leclerc. Compared to the gap of 0 ”829 accused in Miami or that of nine tenths of Melbourne and Jeddah it is indeed a step forward, but on a first analysis it is not such as to justify such a great wave of optimism.
The reasons behind Mercedes’ enthusiasm are three: having found the way out of a crisis that lasted more than two months, the awareness of being able to start the development of the W13 project after putting the problem of porpoising behind us, and the confidence in the performance in the race, which bodes well for tomorrow.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO of the Mercedes team
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“We have made a solid step forward – commented Toto Wolff after qualifying – now we know we can unlock the car’s performance. The other teams were able to continue developing their cars, while we struggled with the hopping problem. Now we can finally resume regular development, understand the tires and the correct setup of the car. I think we will recover ”.
Seen from this perspective, the Mercedes euphoria appears more understandable, because what we saw in Barcelona is a step forward that does not however ensure that Mercedes can think big.
George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Yet, Russell thinks big, excluding only Verstappen from the list of contenders for tomorrow’s race: “It will be a chaotic race with many pit stops. Max on the race pace seems much faster than the rest of the group, but I think we have a real chance against the Ferraris, unless they have found improvements overnight, I think we will be in the mix with them. We will fight for the podium “.
The euphoria for the excellent qualifying, which saw Russell ahead of Hamilton by 0 ”119, can be a reason for a great boost of optimism, but George is not the only one in the Mercedes garage who believes that the best chances will come tomorrow.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Hamilton also showed a good smile, but with his feet firmly on the ground.
“We are in the same position in which I was in the last race – he explained – but we are progressing, it is evident. Not hopping anymore makes a big, huge difference, there is still something in terms of porpoising at turns 3 and 9, but much less pronounced than before. We finally see the light, we were also the fastest in Q2 ”.
Another thing, however, is the internal confrontation, which once again ended in Russell’s favor. “My teammate is fourth – clarified Hamilton – so it means that the car should be at least third or fourth, while today I didn’t go beyond sixth position. I’m still struggling with the car, and I still don’t know how to solve the problem, I just don’t feel the rear end as I would like, but now we can work differently, and I think I’ll be able to adapt ”.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Mercedes expectations put even more spice ahead of tomorrow’s race. Wolff does not want to go too far, for him the real news of the weekend is that he has finally solved the problem of hopping.
“Now we understand – concluded Toto – it is an aerodynamic effect that is created with the oscillation of the bottom, but it was tremendously difficult to reach a solution in a scientific way. Mike Elliot and Jarrod Murphy’s team did it, what can I say is … fantastic ”.
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