F1 News

andrew shovlin previews qualifying at the british grand prix in silverstone

Mercedes "should find a bit more pace for the rest of the weekend"

6 July at 08:06
  • Olly Darcy
  • Editor

Since the Canadian Grand Prix, the progress seen from Mercedes has been a very positive one, capped off by George Russell's victory at the Austrian Grand Prix. It may have been thanks to Max Verstappen and Lando Norris colliding, but the German team have now established themselves as the third-best team on the grid ahead of Ferrari. At the British Grand Prix this weekend, they will be hoping that upward trajectory can continue. 

In FP1 and FP2 on Friday at Silverstone, Mercedes would have hoped for a little more pace to have been shown. In the first free practice session, Russell finished in P5, with teammate Lewis Hamilton two places behind in seventh. Hamilton then finished above his teammate in FP2 by taking P6, six-tenths off the pace of Norris in P1, with Russell only taking P10. Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin has his say on Friday's performance from the German team.

Shovlin hopeful of improvement despite Friday's "issues"

"We got off to a decent start with both cars in FP1," said Shovlin in Mercedes' press release after Friday. "The balance around the lap was reasonably good and both drivers were relatively happy. With the first session being interrupted by a red flag, we didn't manage as much long run work as we hoped for, but it seemed that we had the car in a decent place."

With that decent start to the race weekend at Silverstone, the final race of the first triple header of the 2024 season, Shovlin believes that there is still more to come on Saturday and Sunday for Mercedes to challenge Red Bull and McLaren at the front of the grid.

Shovlin continued by saying: "For FP2, the wind picked up a little and overall, the car was a bit less stable. It's good to highlight these issues today though whilst we can still work on the setup. We've got some work planned overnight to try and understand the balance issues a bit further. We are optimistic that we can make progress and with that, we should find a bit more pace for the rest of the weekend."