Mercedes cannot yet make things difficult for Verstappen: 'Have to find a lot'

F1 News

Mercedes over lagging behind Verstappen
18 June 2023 at 23:13
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  • Kada Sarkozi
  • Editor

For Mercedes, it was a pretty positive day in Canada. Lewis Hamilton finished in third place and overall the pace looks much better. Andrew Shovlin is therefore a content man after the race.

With Hamilton and George on the second row of the grid for the Canadian Grand Prix, the team was aiming for a double podium. That did not materialise, as Russell ruined his race with a crash. He was initially able to continue his way, but was later forced into the pit box with brake problems. Hamilton did finish on the podium.

Good day for Mercedes

''We knew this track would be more difficult for us than Barcelona, so it's encouraging to see that we were very close on pace to Aston Martin and Ferrari. Lewis did a great job to get on the podium today. We didn't quite have the pace we needed to get second but when we look at the tracks that lie ahead of us, we should have a car that can regularly fight for the top-three,'' Shovlin let it be noted in Mercedes' press release.

The Trackside Engineering Director knows there is still work to be done. ''We've clearly got a bit of pace to find before we'll be worrying Max, but the Team is working well to bring performance and very motivated to close that gap.''

Shovlin saw a disappointed Russell at the end of the race, after the Briton himself made a mistake. ''His race came ended due to a front brake wear issue; that was not as a direct result of the incident but because of the traffic he faced as he battled back through the field. We know he will come back strongly in Austria, as the Team continues to push forward,'' Shovlin concluded.