F1 News
Shovlin shares Mercedes' determination: "It's been a very tough weekend"
- Toby McLuskie
Andrew Shovlin has praised the great performances seen from both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell today, as both drivers claimed a combined 27 points for Mercedes. However, this has not come easily for the British duo as both were involved in crashes in qualifying on Friday, which made the weekend extremely difficult for the team.
"It's been a very tough weekend in the garage but very satisfying to come away with third and fourth positions," Shovlin said in a press release from the team, before adding his thoughts on the incident between Russell and Sergio Perez, "we felt that George's penalty for the incident with Sergio was harsh. He was up on the apex kerb and left more than enough room."
Russell deserves praise
Shovlin quickly praised the young Brit's work in today's race but also added his happiness with the performance from Hamilton, saying, "we had to change the front wing after the contact, so it made for a very long stop. He had to pass through the field twice but raced superbly and maximised the opportunity. Similarly, Lewis had rather a lot to do in the first stint due to his start position. Once he was through the midfield cars he had good pace but by then the gap to Charles and Max was way too big to chase so we just focused on bringing the car home."
Austria not a strong track for Mercedes
He finished by adding his hope for the next few races after a strong performance at a track that the team have notably struggled at, "this hasn't been a track that has suited us in recent years. Despite lacking a little pace to Ferrari and Red Bull, we're encouraged by the fact we're moving in the right direction and have more to come in the next few races. We have a busy few days ahead at the factory to recover the situation on car parts, this weekend has not been great in that regard! But we'll pull that back in time for Paul Ricard and are looking forward to a track that should suit the car."