Andrew Shovlin reveals why Mercedes adjusted tire pressure before start of F1 Brazil GP. Andrew Shovlin on why Mercedes adjusted the tire pressure on both W15 cars at Interlagos.

Despite an overall performance needing improvement at Interlagos, the Brazilian weekend nearly turned into a real nightmare for Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell facing the possibility of disqualification after the race.

The reason? According to the stewards, the Mercedes engineers adjusted the tire pressure just before the start (after the initial aborted start), which is, of course, not allowed by the regulations.

However, despite the violation, the stewards ruled that “the tire pressure, even though it was adjusted by the team, fell within the allowed parameters” and that “given the short notice, it was extremely difficult, if not impossible, for teams to follow the procedure outlined by the technical directive.”

The Brackley team got off with a total fine of €10,000 (€5,000 per car) and a warning, thus avoiding far worse consequences.

Andrew Shovlin’s explanation
In the usual post-race debrief, Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes’ trackside engineering director, explained what happened at the start: “The issue occurred when we received the message for the restart, which was directly 10 minutes before the start.” – he pointed out – “Tires need to be fitted to the car five minutes before the end. This meant we only had a few minutes to bring the tires to the car, mount them, and have them checked by the FIA. It wasn’t possible.”

“In Brazil, the pit lane has an unusual layout. The garages are up high. You have to go down to the right of the pit entry road, or there’s a gate much further up. But with the location of our garage, we had quite a distance to cover to get to the car. The set we requested hadn’t yet been brought to race pressure. Engineers request different pressures for the tires. Tire technicians run around to ensure all sets are ready. These sets weren’t ready.”

“Once we brought them to the car, we faced the five-minute limit, which carries a severe penalty if not respected. We had to mount them on the car. We then started to bleed them, but time ran out.”

Finally, Andrew Shovlin added: “The stewards were satisfied that the tires were at the correct pressure. It’s just that the technical steward wasn’t present to check the bleeding before they were fitted on the car. That’s why we were summoned by the race stewards. They accepted that there was no sporting advantage and that we were complying with all tire pressure regulations.” – the Mercedes trackside engineering director concluded at the end of the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo.