The weekend of the Brazilian GP will be remembered for a long time by Mercedes. On the Interlagos track the Anglo-German team experienced three days of very high tension between penalties, disqualifications and a forceful success conquered by Lewis Hamilton at the end of a long chase to Max Verstappen.
With the Briton’s first place, and Valtteri Bottas ‘third, the Brackley team has managed to expand the advantage in the Constructors’ standings over Red Bull, now reaching +11, while in the one reserved for drivers, Verstappen’s margin over Hamilton is now down to 14 points.
At the end of an intense and thrilling race Andrew Shovlin, head of the Mercedes track engineers, analyzed what had happened in the past three days, explaining both why the replacement of the ICE on Hamilton’s car was necessary, and the chaos that occurred in verification site.
Was it the best weekend of Lewis’ career since he has been with Mercedes?
“I’m struggling to remember a better weekend of his. I think that being able to win with a car that does not have the advantage over the competition that it had in previous years, having succeeded in a weekend where, despite being the fastest in qualifying, he was forced to start from the back of the grid is something. really impressive “.
Who had the fastest car this weekend? You or Red Bull?
“This weekend we. The car was doing well on the flying lap and in the Sprint Qualifying, with cooler weather, we showed a good pace and a good ability to contain the overheating of the tires and we saw the same thing in Sunday’s race as well. Despite there being 50 degrees of asphalt, the car worked very well with the tires. Having been competitive in such a varied range of conditions is encouraging in anticipation of the next three rounds ”.
Was the engine change necessary or was this the best track to serve penalties?
“There was no technical reason behind this change. We weren’t at risk of reliability even if we are squeezing these power units to the max and you never know. We were aware that on this track it was easier to overtake and we saw it both on Saturday and Sunday. Let’s say that there were several reasons behind this decision, and reflecting with the bowls stopped we can say that we have chosen a good circuit to make this substitution ”.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12
Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images
What was the problem with the DRS?
“It all started with the fact that the opening of the movable wing is allowed up to 85 millimeters from the main profile. The commissioners have a device that measures this movement and we were below this threshold. However, there is another test that is done on the wings by applying a load and it was at this juncture that play between the elements emerged. This is one of the most common tests performed on cars and had previously been passed. We check every time and we found that the component was good for about 90% of its width ”.
“We changed the wing, but the defective one was withheld by the FIA. We thought they would return it to us in the evening and for this reason we could not carry out a thorough investigation. It was probably a problem due to component wear. We are not talking about large margins, it is about 0.2mm, something that we could have solved by simply passing a coat of paint. The technical regulations, however, are often read without taking into account the nuances and this interpretation has led us to disqualification and relegation to the bottom of the grid ”.
Why did it take 18 hours to decide?
“The situation got a little more complicated because we weren’t the last to touch that disputed element. It was Max who did it in a closed park and the commissioners wanted to look at those images ”.
What does this win represent for the rest of the season?
“This result, the impact it had this weekend in the championship and the fact that despite the penalty we managed to get more points than Max and Red Bull gives us a lot of confidence. The fact that we were able to manage the rear tires better in very hot conditions gives us confidence. We are motivated because we believe we can win both championships and we will work hard to do so ”.
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