British Grand Prix: Race team notes – Mercedes

George Russell completed P10 while Kimi Antonelli retired in Sunday’s British Grand Prix. In changeable circumstances, there have been a number of key resolution factors for the group to make which might dictate the end result of the race.

The primary got here early on because the monitor dried following pre-race rain. Each George and Kimi pitted for the Laborious slick tyre however sadly that dropped them again into the pack. Our duo switched again to the Intermediate tyre as heavy rain fell after 10 laps earlier than a number of Digital Security Automotive and Security Automotive interruptions introduced racing to a halt.

After the motion acquired again underway, Kimi was hit from behind by the Racing Bull of Isaac Hadjar who was unsighted by spray. The following diffuser injury pressured Kimi into an early retirement. George continued on and, having made it again into the factors, he as soon as once more made an early swap to slicks because the monitor dried. After rejoining, he spun at Flip 10 and misplaced floor. He fought again into the top-10 however may solely deliver house a solitary level in P10.

George Russell: It is all the time troublesome making the proper calls in circumstances like at this time however sadly, we did not handle to try this. We opted to go to the Laborious tyre after the formation lap and we then had a 25-minute window of dry climate, which ought to have enabled us to place them to good use. Sadly, we had 15-minutes of Digital Security Automotive working. As soon as we have been working, we have been seconds a lap faster than others however simply had an excessive amount of time to make up.

We have been then a number of laps too early pitting again to the slick tyre after the monitor had dried as soon as once more. We placed on the Laborious tyre and suffered with warm-up points. I spun and misplaced floor; we have been lucky to have the ability to combat again to P10 however total, that was a foul day and never how I needed my house race to go. We are going to look to study from this and guarantee we come again stronger earlier than the summer season break.

Kimi Antonelli: That was a tricky day. I wasn’t certain about stopping for the Laborious tyre within the opening laps, however we made the decision. Sadly, the Digital Security Automotive got here out shortly afterwards and I could not construct any temperature within the tyre. I struggled as soon as we have been again underway to generate the mandatory warmth and that left me unable to utilise any tempo benefit we could have had because the monitor dried.

As soon as the rain hit, the circumstances turned treacherous. Even as soon as the Security Automotive had come again in, visibility was nonetheless very poor and there was a lot of standing water. That’s what caught out Hadjar and that was simply unlucky for the each of us. I attempted to proceed however the diffuser injury I suffered was an excessive amount of and we needed to retire the automotive. A weekend to overlook then however we are going to look to come back again stronger in Spa.

Toto Wolff, Workforce Principal & CEO: We’re all on this collectively and that was a poor efficiency throughout from us at this time. We made successive choices which weren’t proper, and we might be evaluating what we did, when, and why, to make sure we enhance from this. We’ve got to take this outcome on the chin however should make certain we don’t repeat the errors we made at this time.

The primary name to take the slick tyre on the formation lap was flawed. From there, we spiralled from dangerous to worse. We did not decide to separate methods and, if we had, Kimi’s race could have been completely different. He was unlucky to endure race ending injury after the Security Automotive however he should not have been again within the pack and prone to that. We did not match the proper dry tyre at both cease, choosing the Laborious compound which suffered a difficult warm-up. All in all, that was a tricky day and we have to bounce again within the last two races earlier than the summer season break.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director: This was a really disappointing day for the group and a troublesome finish to a tricky double-header. After beginning P4 and P10, scoring a solitary level is considerably beneath our personal expectations. George’s race was formed by the choice to take the dry tyre on the formation lap – it was a little bit of a big gamble, in hindsight a mistake, and it left us on the again foot for the remainder of the race.

George drove strongly to get better floor on the primary two stints, however when it got here to the ultimate cease, we aimed to leapfrog Gasly by stopping for dry tyres. We overestimated how prepared the circuit was for them, nevertheless. George misplaced a variety of time consequently, together with a spin by means of Becketts, and was solely capable of salvage a single level on the flag.

As for Kimi, we mirrored George’s name for dry tyres after two laps, sacrificing monitor place consequently, and he was then innocent within the collision with Hadjar within the spray. This precipitated vital injury to the diffuser, and we took the choice to retire the automotive consequently. There’s a lot for us to analyse and study from at this time, and it’s crucial that we try this work, regroup and ship a a lot stronger weekend in three weeks’ time in Spa.

Try our Sunday gallery from Silverstone right here.