According to the team’s technical director, Mercedes’s finish there is not suitable for the first two, but it could be good news for them that the lap times came even though their competitors are not yet satisfied with the car.
Mercedes, who had made a huge lead in Barcelona, eagerly, but cautiously, awaited the weekend in Canada. Their technical director, James Allison, predicted ahead of the second free practice that it wouldn’t be surprising if we saw a step back from last weekend. “I tend to think that what we’ve done has made the most progress in the medium and high tempo parts. There aren’t many fast and medium pace corners here so maybe we won’t be as strong as in Barcelona. We need to make a similar improvement in the slow corners But that will happen later in the year. – said the British.
By comparison, two of her competitors finished the Friday Speedway in the first two places. Lewis Hamilton was 0.027 seconds ahead of George Russell in the second practice, which extended to 90 minutes due to the first practice session that basically didn’t happen, while Carlos Sainz was third by 0.126 seconds, and Max Verstappen sixth by 0.424 seconds.
Of course, the result wasn’t very representative because the stars ran their “time trial” runs roughly 20 minutes after the red and blue cars. Their program was similar to that of Aston Martin only they were 0.326 seconds better than Fernando Alonso with Hamilton.
Allison after waving a Sky SportsAttention was immediately drawn to the misleading nature of the result.
“Obviously it’s better to be at the beginning than at the end, but let’s not get carried away with it! Since we thought the rain would arrive a little earlier than it did, we moved the long stages forward and did quick laps at the end. Everyone Another did it in reverse. So we did quick laps when the track was in top shape.”
indicated the technical director.
He noted that the competitors are not really satisfied with their cars yet. “I don’t know if you can hear the radio, but after his run George said it wasn’t a good run. We still have some work to do on the car before qualifying. All you can read from this is our car is in good shape. Well, but Not in the top two. We weren’t doing the laps at the same time.”
Hamilton: The improvements work here, too
Hamilton and Russell confirmed that there was still work to be done on the W14. “I don’t feel the car is bad, but we definitely have more work to do.” said Hamilton. “It wasn’t the greatest, but it was far from the worst. I feel good, it’s just rocking. Everyone’s struggling with bucks. We need to improve the chassis suspension, a little bit on the balance in the corners, and I think we’ll be fine.”
According to the Briton, the unevenness on the track is too extreme. “This is probably the bumpiest path we’ve been on lately.” is without.
Lewis Hamilton (Photo: XPB)According to him, their developments are also working in Montreal.
“I can only compare it to last year, and it’s much better than that. It doesn’t have to be the rear end of the car, but the car as a whole is an improvement. And I definitely feel the improvement I felt in Monaco here too.”
stated.
Russell had a similar assessment. “This and Barcelona are two completely different stadiums. Barcelona is a smooth, fast track, it’s incredibly exciting. But I feel the improvements will help, and with the old specs, our difficulties will be more serious.”
Allison admitted that it was not a bad thing that their W14 was fast, which the competitors weren’t really happy with. “Yeah, that’s right. And Lewis got stuck in the last corner, so there’s more.” – Tell.
Lost time, rainy hopes
Hamilton has already won seven times in Canada, one of his strongest tracks being Montreal. He was still enjoying spinning around. “I love driving on this track. Powerful! As soon as you leave the pit lane, you feel it’s Beitang!” I smile.
He liked the fact that their program, mixed up due to the suspension of the first free practice, was not designed in the best way. “I felt sorry for the fans in the first practice session. I don’t know what happened to the cameras. It’s good that we got an hour and a half, but we haven’t had that much time in a long time, and I felt like we weren’t using the time optimally.” said the seven-time world champion.
George Russell (Photo: XPB)Russell had a slightly different assessment. “It was a strange day because of what happened in the first free practice and the second free practice stretch. It was a very productive workout.”He said, then also confirmed: “You don’t have to see much in the results, because we traveled on less fuel when the track was faster.”
According to him, the sequel could be interesting.
“We’ll see where we end up. In qualifying, I think Ferrari and Aston Martin will still be fast, but Valtteri and maybe Albin will also be fast. However, on Sunday we always improve, that will be the point. Saturday could be rainy, we’ll see how it goes.”
There will be a high chance of rain throughout Saturday, including during the qualifying session. None of the Mercedes drivers mind that. “Well, I like rain, so I’ll try to have fun tomorrow.” Hamilton smiled.
Meanwhile, Russell indicated that they would try to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the weather. “I tried that last year when I was on the slicks while it was raining and I went into the wall… We’re trying to get a big result. Last year we were strong here in the playoffs, we’ll see what tomorrow brings.” – the young Briton looked ahead.
