Mercedes explains strategic miss at the Chinese Grand Prix
F1 News
Mercedes did not come out on top during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, partly due to a strategy in sprint qualifying that later proved unnecessary. George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli drove with extra fuel in the car to allow for a second lap on the soft tyres should the first one fail. However, in hindsight, the team would not make that choice again, as acknowledged by trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin.
Mercedes explains strategic miss GP China
The second lap Mercedes were counting on never occurred, and as a result, Russell and Antonelli drove around with unnecessarily heavy F1 cars during sprint qualifying, with the timing of the runs also not worked out for the German team.
"“Once they [McLaren] had gone, we thought, 'Well, no one else is going to go. It felt like the rest of them would be doing a single-lap run," explained Shovlin when recapping the sprint qualifying session on Saturday afternoon at the Shanghai International Circuit.
The sprint race did give the team important insights, with Mercedes struggling with too much wear on the front tyres, especially the front left: "We were able to put more front end in the car. You can do that mechanically. You can do it aerodynamically. That largely solved the balance problem," Shovlin continued, working out especially well for Russell, who had a strong qualifying lap later in the day.
Antonelli was less lucky, driving over debris from Leclerc's car on the opening lap of the sprint race, which led to damage of the floor and significant grip loss at the rear of the car: "That affected his race quite a lot, especially as the damage was not symmetrical. But he did well given the circumstances," stressed the Briton.
Looking ahead to the triple header with races in Japan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Mercedes expects McLaren to be the benchmark for now: "Our car works well on different tracks, but we know we still need to find some speed - especially to keep up with McLaren," Shovlin said.
This article was written in collaboration with Nicole Mulder
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