Mercedes are "under no illusion that we're in for a tough fight," claims Shovlin
Despite George Russell's brilliant pole position at this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix, Mercedes' trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin reckoned that the Brackley-based outfit is "under no illusion that we're in for a tough fight."
Although George Russell did not always look particularly quick on Pirelli's red-walled C6 tyres, he opted for mediums for his final lap in Q3. The Briton managed a dream last lap to grab his first pole of the season.
The Mercedes driver nailed every single corner to beat reigning champion Max Verstappen by a tenth and a half, repeating his result from last season when he also secured pole position in Montreal.
His team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli looked to struggle for pace in the opening stages of the Montreal weekend, but the Italian got his act together when it really mattered, posting encouraging lap times all through qualifying.
Similar to Russell, the Bologna-born driver completed his last lap on Pirelli's medium tyres, albeit he was on a used set of yellow-banded tyres, but he still did very well to bag a place on the second row.
Reflecting on the qualifying day at Montreal, Mercedes' trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin conceded that he expects a tough fight with Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull on a day which is expected to be the hottest over the weekend.
"George put together a great final lap to secure his sixth pole position. It was also a very impressive effort by Kimi to get P4 on the used Medium tyre.
"We knew it was going to be tight and, at different times during the weekend, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull have all looked very quick on a single lap. To come away with pole position and the other car on the second row is a pleasing result therefore.
"We had expected the Medium to be the best tyre today; George was quickest on it yesterday in FP2 and it was working equally well today. Unfortunately for Kimi, we'd used both Mediums on the way through to Q3 so he didn't have the benefit of a new set. He was still able to secure a solid grid position for tomorrow thankfully.
Signing off with a word for his expectations for the Montreal race, Shovlin said: "We've got a good opportunity to score big points tomorrow, but we're well aware that this can be an unpredictable race. It is also expected to be the hottest day of the weekend so far so we’re under no illusion that we're in for a tough fight.
"Our pace on Friday looked respectable though and we'll be doing everything we can to convert the good work from today into a great result tomorrow."
