To understand what Mercedes’ expectations were on the eve of qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix, it was enough to observe the expression of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell as soon as they got off the car after the checkered flag.
Both were aware that they had had the opportunity to aim for pole position, and a positive haul (second and third position) was not enough to digest the missed opportunity.
It took some time, then at the press conference both George and Lewis got the Mexican Saturday coupon. It is no small feat, because Mercedes will try today to score the goal of the flag, that stage success that would take on an important significance for the efforts made after the disastrous baptism of the W13.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO of Mercedes AMG
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
“On this track we will have our best chance of victory – commented Toto Wolff – on the tracks where we ride with the maximum downforce we have good potential. We have seen it in Budapest, Zandvoort and now here in Mexico. We were quite confident on the eve of the weekend because drag in the thin air is not so penalizing ”.
Hamilton and above all Russell’s regret is due to not being able to exploit the potential of the car.
“The pole was within our reach – explained George – I made mistakes on the last lap, it was my fault. The first lap in Q3 was good, but I knew it would have been possible to do better, unfortunately it didn’t happen that way. But in the end, the points are up for grabs in the race, and I’m happy to be back on the front row anyway ”.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Hamilton also had to complain. Lewis had his first lap canceled in Q3, and this affected the end of the session.
“Losing that lap definitely made the second one much more difficult – explained Lewis – and in the end it affected me a bit.” As always happens when you play it all in one round, the approach becomes more conservative.
In addition, since Q2 Hamilton has complained of a problem with his power unit …
“I lost power when exiting the corners – he clarified – especially when exiting the stadium and also in other points. I’m not sure what happened, it looked like an ignition problem ”.
The team did not go into the details of the problem, but confirmed the impact on Hamilton’s time in one tenth.
Obviously the main obstacle between Mercedes and the first success of the year is Max Verstappen. Toto Wolff was very cautious when asked for a prediction, but the team has two cards to play. The first will be at the start, or the eight hundred meters that separate the starting point from the braking of turn 1.
Mercedes W13: the rear wing tested in Mexico
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
“It is an opportunity – confirmed Hamilton, who will start in the wake of Red Bull number 1 – we hope to be able to seize it”.
The second card could be that of the differentiation of strategies, a possible option if both Hamilton and Russell do not lose ground at the start.
“If Lewis and I can take the lead – confirmed George – we will have the opportunity to do something different with the strategy. At the moment I don’t think anyone really knows if the race will be one stop or two, so we can have a chance ”.
Here is the enlarged brake air intake of the Mercedes W13
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
#Mercedes #goal #flag #Mexico