Shovlin on progress at Mercedes: 'Nice, but we want more'

George Russell was responsible for perhaps the highlight of the race with his rocket start, going from P4 to P1. Shovlin provides insight into how that overtaking action came about. "We've got the GPS data for the McLaren, for Max's car, and we can see that George got this brilliant slipstream. He then pulls out to the side, the car stops accelerating as much. And it wasn't that he brakes late, he actually brakes in about the same place, he just doesn't brake very hard and he carried a lot more speed around the corner. Now, how he know there was that much grip, I don't know."

Strategic advantage Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton secured his first podium in Barcelona in a long time. Shovlin argues that the seven-time world champion's tyre management ultimately made the difference. "We had to do 30 laps with George. [The hard tyre] is the only one that could have done that range. When you look at Lewis' race though, because he was able to extend, that was a function of being able to stay far enough away from Leclerc that we were out of undercut range, he got got a point where you could then do a soft tyre to the finish. And therefore that was an easy decision also to do that with Lewis."

Shovlin not yet satisfied

Mercedes have shown progress in recent weeks, with two podium finishes in the last two races. But Mercedes' strategic head is not yet satisfied. "Great to see both drivers on the podium in the last two events. But we want more, we want to do better than third places."

Finally, Shovlin looks ahead to the upcoming Grand Prix in Austria. "It's a tricky circuit and it's a sprint race. So with a sprint race, you've got one hour to get the car sorted out and set up. Now, the recent changes we've made to the car, it's an easier thing to work with. The drivers have been much happier with the start setups. You've then got two sets of qualifying, two separate races. So there's plenty to contend with. (...) Sometimes it's really hot, sometimes it's wet, so there's plenty to think about. But the drivers, the team, they are all enjoying racing the car that we've got now."