Two consecutive victories, with a race as protagonists where the strategic choices and the performance of the car allowed to hit a success that, in some way, wrote a small page of history. After the triumph in Austria, which came mainly thanks to the contact between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris in the final laps of the race, this time Mercedes forcefully entered the victory discussion, taking advantage of McLaren’s mistakes, but also making the right decisions at the right time.
Lewis Hamilton is once again King of Silverstone, with a success that, given how it came about, above all instils great confidence in the Mercedes environment. It is no mystery, in fact, that the start of the championship has not gone in the direction hoped for by the Star, due to some key elements, including the bouncing in the high-speed corners experienced in the first races and a marked understeer, in contrast to the oversteer experienced for much of last season.
After a period of confusion, development has started to move in the right direction and the various elements brought to the latest events, such as the new front wing, the lighter floor and changes to the mechanics, have allowed us to find a better overall balance. It is not a single element that has made the difference, but rather multiple aspects that, put together, have allowed us to make a global leap forward. A path that Mercedes wants to continue by bringing other innovations to the next two Grands Prix.
Race winner Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, stops in parc fermé alongside Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Despite the retirement, at the end of the race George Russell said that Hamilton’s victory, achieved with experience, a good pace and correct decisions, represents perhaps the most important signal of Mercedes’ return to the top. A sentiment shared by Toto Wolff, who retraced the path followed by the Star to return to the top positions, as if something had clicked in terms of data correlation.
“If you consider that five races ago we weren’t even in contention for the podium, which seemed like the third year of lack of performance, suddenly the spring was triggered,” explained the Team Principal.
“Suddenly, everything that didn’t make sense made sense. And the results of the development directions returned to the old days. There was a moment when, led by James [Allison]suddenly the data made sense, and how we found this direction, how we balanced the car and how we managed to get it to a better place, that was the main thing. It wasn’t about a miracle front wing or anything like that… but rather the balance we achieved.”
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15
Photo by: Malcolm Griffiths
“It hasn’t been like that in the last two years. We haven’t been able to give the drivers a car that allows them to go for wins. And for Lewis to win the British Grand Prix again in his last race for Mercedes here is almost a little fairytale, we couldn’t have written a better script.”
The success at Silverstone represents a big step in terms of confidence, even though it came on a track where they didn’t expect to be able to win, given the not exactly exciting performances last year and those seen in Spain, where there was still a certain distance from McLaren and Red Bull. Furthermore, for the British round there were not even any big changes.
“Last weekend in Austria we weren’t that far away. If you look at the gap we had before the accident, it was maybe two tenths a lap, a little bit more. And that’s the closest we’ve been in a long time, on a track we didn’t like very much in the past. And that made us realise that the situation could improve,” Wolff added.
Mercedes W15 Front Brake Pads Comparison
Photo by: Uncredited
“Honestly, we didn’t think the win would come at Silverstone, because we only brought small things to the car, we expected more to be more competitive from Budapest or Spa.”
In fact, in the next two events Mercedes will continue to bring further developments to try to make the single-seater more competitive. “There will be other innovations in terms of performance. We will bring updates to Budapest and Spa”.
“We mustn’t let ourselves get carried away, last week we won by taking advantage of the contact between [Verstappen e Norris]but today we got an honest win. We had the real pace, you could see it when George and Lewis were leading… in almost all conditions we were there”, added Wolff.
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