Mercedes with mixed feelings after Hamilton's P2: "Not spectacular"

Mercedes speak of 'difficult day' in China

Andrew Shovlin, trackside engineering director at the German F1 team, speaks of a 'difficult day' at the Shanghai International Circuit. "We knew that having not visited here in five years, the circuit would likely be very green in FP1. That proved to be the case and we therefore elected to only run one set of the Hard tyres. That provides us with a more beneficial allocation for the rest of the weekend. We hope that will prove useful as the track continues to grip up and evolve," he explained.

As there was only one free practice in preparation for the rest of the weekend, Shovlin said it was a challenge to find the right set-up for sprint qualifying. This was further complicated by the changing conditions during the session.

"After getting both cars through to SQ2, George suffered from a lack of tyre temperature on his first push lap. As the rain began to fall, he found himself on the wrong side of the bubble. Lewis made it through and, after a good call by him and the team to change onto a new set of Intermediates with higher pressure, did a great job to qualify P2," continued the Briton.

Mercedes fear race pace: 'Not spectacular'

Mercedes does fear the rest of the weekend will not be as competitive as on Friday. "Our pace in the dry wasn't spectacular but with Lewis, we will be looking to keep those faster cars behind us in tomorrow's Sprint. George should be able to make some forward progress from his starting position and hopefully he can fight his way into the points. The on-track running in the Sprint will also provide us with further knowledge that we can utilise to make further adjustments to the W15 ahead of qualifying," Shovlin said.