Mercedes, a sweeter than bitter Friday
A mistake in turn 1 for George Russell and a lethal mix of a mistake and the presence of yellow flags in turn 12 for Lewis Hamilton (here’s the telemetry analysis). This is how Mercedes lost the chance to secure a pole position that seemed well within reach during SQ3 of the sprint qualifying for the US GP in Austin. Despite the disappointment of George Russell narrowly missing out on pole and Lewis Hamilton’s frustration at starting from seventh place, there is satisfaction in knowing that the heavily updated W15 in Austin seems to be functioning properly.
Lewis Hamilton enthusiastic about the updates
“I was unlucky with the yellow flag in turn 12,” explained the seven-time world champion after the checkered flag, referring to the danger signal displayed for Franco Colapinto‘s spin, “and that’s that. It’s a shame because at that moment I had four tenths in hand over the best time. It is what it is; the positive thing is that the team has made a step forward with the car. The updates clearly worked, and I’m grateful to everyone at the factory for the hard work they’ve put in recently. Having functioning developments is a sign of love for everyone, so (the qualifying session didn’t go well) is not the end of the world. We’ll have another chance in qualifying.”
Lewis Hamilton also praised the work done in the garage, especially after both Mercedes seemed very nervous during FP1 on Friday morning: “An excellent job was done to make the necessary setup changes. It’s always a bit of a gamble because you never know if the changes you make will work or not, but you hope they do what you imagine. As soon as I left the pit box, the car felt different, like night and day, so an exceptional job was done in the garage.” – the future Ferrari driver explained at the end of the Austin Sprint Qualifying in the United States.
George Russell fighting for victory
George Russell’s satisfaction was also evident, having been edged out by Max Verstappen, who was just 12 thousandths quicker: “To be honest, I’m very happy because it’s been a while since I’ve been on the front row, and the session was complicated. But it was really nice, and the final sector on my last lap was very good. I believe that made the difference. It’s a real shame about the yellow flags for Lewis, as he was also very quick. I think we both should have been up there.”
“In the morning, the car was definitely difficult to handle,” the young English driver concluded, “but we managed to fix things. We knew we had good potential, and the car performed excellently with these updates. Clearly, the races will be very competitive, but it was a nice surprise to be in second place. Fighting for victory? Honestly, I don’t see why not. If we can repeat this and start from the front a couple of times… I’m excited to be back in this position. It’s been a while since the last time, but that’s what I love most about F1. Getting on track, fighting for pole, and hopefully also for the win in the race.”
Leave a Reply