Shovlin: "A solitary point is significantly below our own expectations"
Following a sensational lap in qualifying from George Russell, Mercedes' weekend took a disappointing end at Silverstone as the Brackley-based squad only managed to collect a single championship point.
Mercedes had a challenging weekend at Silverstone. The Brackley-based outfit struggled for pace on Friday, but George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli still managed to secure fourth and seventh place in qualifying.
With the race having taken place in changeable conditions, there were several key decision points that derailed Mercedes’ day at Silverstone.
George Russell pitted on the formation lap which was a few laps too early given the wet track surface in Sector 3. It meant that the Briton lost valuable race time in the opening stages of the race.
His team-mate Kimi Antonelli pitted for slicks during the virtual safety car, but it also proved a bit too early and as he elected to put on hards he massively struggled for tyre temperatures.
Russell and Antonelli switched back to the Intermediate tyre as heavy rain fell after 10 laps before several Virtual Safety Car and Safety Car interruptions brought racing to a halt.
After the action got back underway, the Bologna-born driver was hit from behind by the Racing Bull of Isack Hadjar who was unsighted by spray. The subsequent diffuser damage forced the Italian into an early retirement.
In the meantime, Russell made it back into the points, he once again made an early switch to slicks as the track dried. After rejoining, he spun at Turn 10 and lost ground. He fought back into the top-10 but could only bring home a solitary point in P10.
Reflecting on Mercedes' tough afternoon at Silverstone, trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin commented: "This was a very disappointing day for the team and a difficult end to a tough double-header. After starting P4 and P10, scoring a solitary point is significantly below our own expectations.
"George's race was shaped by the decision to take the dry tyre on the formation lap - it was a bit of a gamble, in hindsight a mistake, and it left us on the back foot for the rest of the race.
"George drove strongly to recover ground on the first two stints, but when it came to the final stop, we aimed to leapfrog Gasly by stopping for dry tyres.
"We overestimated how ready the circuit was for them, however. George lost a lot of time as a result, including a spin through Becketts, and was only able to salvage a single point at the flag.
"As for Kimi, we mirrored George's call for dry tyres after two laps, sacrificing track position as a result, and he was then blameless in the collision with Hadjar in the spray. This caused significant damage to the diffuser, and we took the decision to retire the car consequently.
"There is much for us to analyse and learn from today, and it is imperative that we do that work, regroup and deliver a much stronger weekend in three weeks' time in Spa."
