Mercedes is amazed: "Didn't see that coming"
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- GPblog.com
Andrew Shovlin has seen Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes do excellent business for the F1 World Championship in Saudi Arabia. The Mercedes engineer speaks of a tricky night, but he is pleased that his team managed to bring everything to a successful conclusion.
"We came in this morning expecting an eventful race but didn't see that coming," Shovlin acknowledged in the review for his employer. "Firstly, well done to the team and drivers; it's been the most challenging weekend we've had for a long time but great to come away with a win and both drivers on the podium. It was very encouraging to see how strong the car was in the race today."
Mercedes turns it around
Despite a full front row Mercedes start, there was some disappointment from the German racing stable after qualifying. Indeed, Verstappen showed he was much faster until he crashed. "We were left a little deflated after qualifying having seen the pace of the Red Bull on a single lap. However, it seemed that the gap shifted in our favour today and Lewis was able to easily control the gap in stint one."
The red flag was particularly unfortunate for Hamilton, as it gave Verstappen a free tyre change. "That putted us on the back foot and with all the interruptions, we'd lost temperature in the tyres for each restart but in the long run, the Hard tyre was the right choice for Lewis, allowing him to attack towards the end," the Briton stated.
Looking to Abu Dhabi
Mercedes' gaze now turns to the final Grand Prix of the season, that of Abu Dhabi. "Today reminded us just how unpredictable the sport can be and we can't carry an ounce of complacency into next weekend. But if we can get the car working as well there as we have done in the last three races then everything is possible."