Mercedes focusing on better starts

10:21, 11 Jul 2018
0 Comments

Mercedes say they are doing "a lot of work" behind the scenes to try and match Ferrari's starts.

Lewis Hamilton's start at the British Grand Prix on Sunday was poor and that led to an unfortunate incident involving Kimi Raikkonen, which ultimately cost Hamilton a win on his home track.

Mercedes have now confirmed that they are doing all they can behind the scenes to try and improve their starts off the line, to keep up with Ferrari as they look for a way back in the Constructors' Championship.

The German manufacturer has taken pole position in the last three races - however, Ferrari have been able to compete with Mercedes with their better getaways.

Following this in recent weeks, Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said that his team are doing everything they possibly can to improve their getaways, as they look to match the Italian giants.

"We are doing a lot of work here this week trying to understand that, because we know fine well that if we qualify on pole we have got to get off the line as well as the Ferraris and that is what we will be trying to do in Hockenheim," Shovlin said on Mercedes' YouTube channel.

He also spoke about what went wrong for the Silver Arrows at Silverstone.

"We had done practice starts there and at Silverstone they do actually allow you do a start from the grid," Shovlin said.

"But for some reason on Sunday we didn't quite have what we expected and as soon as you get the wheelspin you lose traction and that lost him places quickly."

Read more about: