F1 News
Are Mercedes concerned by McLaren's pace? 'Norris looked very good'
Mercedes continued their impressive Friday form at the Dutch Grand Prix weekend. George Russell topped the timesheets in FP2 with a solid 1:10.702 lap. Lewis Hamilton also showcased his strong pace, securing third in both the rain-soaked FP1 and the drier FP2 sessions. Although Mercedes’ trackside engineering director, Andrew Shovlin, described the start of the weekend as "encouraging," he acknowledged that a fierce battle with McLaren and Red Bull looms for the remainder of the weekend.
"Today was an encouraging start to the weekend," Shovlin began. "The conditions in FP1 were particularly tricky with very strong winds and heavy rain making it difficult to get a good read on the updated floor we brought to Spa. Nevertheless, what we saw looks in line with expectations, so we'll continue the weekend with that fitted to both cars," he explained. It was tough for all 10 teams to enjoy any real running in FP1 due to the topsy-turvy conditions. Only a handful of laps could be completed in the final few minutes of the first session.
Shovlin is comfortable with the performance of the W15 before tomorrow's qualifying. He admits, however, that it is sure to be tight at the top. "Across both FP1 and FP2, the car has been working well. The single-lap performance looks solid, although it's likely to be tight with Verstappen and the McLarens in qualifying as they all looked strong today. We have a few areas we can improve in that regard but no doubt the others are in a similar position. Our long runs weren't quite as strong. We can certainly find a bit of pace with tyre management and an improved balance," Shovlin revealed.
Is Norris the biggest danger for Mercedes?
"Norris looked very good this afternoon, and we will need to take a step to get on his pace. We'll work hard overnight to find those gains; we've shown in recent races that, if we get the car in the right window, we can be competitive and on the basis of today, it looks like we will should be in the fight near the front tomorrow." The British engineer declared.
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