Having ended the Imola F1 spherical solely in P6 and P7 respectively, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have been each delighted with their staff’s improve bundle, though they assume that the steps their rivals McLaren and Ferrari have alsotaken large steps ahead.
Lewis Hamilton appeared to have encouraging tempo on Friday solely to fall again in qualifying. The seven-time world champion complained about lack of grip within the vital Saturday’s session, however he seemed extra snug in his W15 on Sunday.
However, he made a mistake on the finish of his first stint which noticed him go to the gravel entice on the difficult Acque Minerali nook, dropping round 5 seconds race time. Ultimately, Hamilton ended the Imola race in P6 with which he equalled his greatest result in 2024.
“My race was usually good. I had one second which price me about 5 seconds, however my race tempo was usually sturdy so I’m proud of the way it went. I made a very good begin and that was vital to get previous Tsunoda. From there, I used to be in a position to lengthen my opening stint and that helped me make the one-stop technique work.
“We’ve taken a small step forward this weekend and we have improved. Unfortunately, that is slightly masked by the step forward others such as McLaren and Ferrari have taken. We will keep pushing to bring more updates that can add performance. Until then, we will make sure we are scoring as many points as we can,” commented Hamilton.
His team-mate George Russell put a formidable lap collectively to finish the essential qualifying session in P6 with solely a hundreds of a second off fifth-quickest Carlos Sainz. His race tempo additionally seemed fairly sturdy, however he wanted a second, unplanned pit cease because the staff had considerations about his laborious tyres following his comparatively early cease.
“We had some considerations over the Hard tyre with the ability to go to the top so made a second pit cease. Of course meaning I misplaced a place to Lewis, however we have been in a position to rating one additional level as a staff. It was fairly a lonely race for us. We’ve barely closed the hole to Red Bull and prolonged our benefit over the midfield. However, McLaren and Ferrari have additionally discovered comparable features so we’re aiming to carry extra efficiency and larger steps as quickly as we will. We’re by no means going to be glad with P6 and P7, however that is the place we’re in the intervening time.
“Everyone is super motivated and it’s very inspiring to see. Everyone at Brackley and Brixworth are working so hard to bring improvements and it’s great to see. We’ve got to keep on pushing. This weekend we maximised the package we had, and we will continue to aim to do that moving forward,” mentioned Russell.
Thanks for all of the help, Imola ❤️ pic.twitter.com/jymkAb9zaK
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) May 19, 2024
Team boss Toto Wolff took delight from his outfit’s upgrades which have been launched during the last two rounds, however he referred to as irritating that Mercedes might solely safe a sixth- and seventh-placed end within the first European race of the season.
“It’s not attainable to see it when it comes to the result, however we’ve taken a small step ahead this weekend. Our closest opponents have additionally completed so just lately, however we’ve closed the hole to the entrance a little bit. We nonetheless have a whole lot of work to do and naturally, we’re all annoyed ending P6 and P7. There is extra to return although, and it’s all about making incremental features. These are what we have to preserve delivering if we’re to get ourselves within the combat with the three groups forward of us.
Expanding on the necessity of Russell’s secdon pit cease, Wollf mentioned: “With George’s second stop, our wear forecasts showed that he may struggle to make it last to the end of the race on the Hard tyre. We had the opportunity to pit and get out ahead of Perez, and therefore opted to stop him. That also enabled us to go for the fastest lap point. It cost George a place to Lewis but ultimately the team was able to score an additional point.”
Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director, Andrew Shovlin was impressed by this staff’s improve bundle, however he said that with the highest three groups additionally having made monumental features during the last weekends, the Stuttgart-based agency additionally wants so as to add extra efficiency to its W15.
“It’s clear we’ve made progress this weekend, however our nearest opponents are additionally pushing laborious. The race as we speak confirmed that we have to proceed to make these features to be within the combat with the top-three groups. We are persevering with to work on that, with the manufacturing unit flat out on improvement. We will look to proceed to carry updates to subsequent races.
“Today, the Grand Prix didn’t throw us any opportunities. There were no Virtual Safety Cars or Safety Cars, so as much as P6 and P7 is frustrating, it is what our pace deserved. We’re not lacking any determination or effort to improve, and over the last few weeks it has been encouraging to see the efforts that every team member has put into the drive to get back to the front.”
