F1 News
Shovlin: 'More aggressive kerbs would have made it easier in Qatar'
- GPblog.com
The second stage of the race in Qatar created excitement for the teams attempting a one-stop. The tyres of Valtteri Bottas, Nicholas Latifi, Lando Norris and George Russell could not cope with the wear. Mercedes chief Andrew Shovlin puts the blame on the kerbstones.
Kerbstones to blame
The kerbs on the Qatar circuit are seen as the culprits of the weekend. Not only were the tyres unable to cope, some of the front wings were also affected. Michael Masi denies that the Kerbs were a direct cause of the problem. This type of kerbstone is found on most circuits.
Motorsport.com quotes the race director: "One of the points is that drivers tried to use everything to their advantage." Mercedes trackside engineering director Shovlin counters Masi, saying that these types of kerbs invite drivers to drive over them at full speed.
Mercedes preferred other kerbs
"It is strange. The problem is that the kerbs are very flat, so you can drive full over them. When you do that, the front wing is very low to the ground and sometimes it even touches the ground briefly. The tyres get hit pretty hard as well."
According to Shovlin, the risk was precisely in the fact that the drivers could go full throttle over the kerbs and that that was also the fastest way; a driver has to go for the fastest way. Shovlin: "It's a bit bizarre, but if the kerbs had been more aggressive, it probably would have been easy for the cars and the tyres."