Is Mercedes Solving Their Car Problem?
George Russel a fast-paced English-born gentleman who has time and time again shown his worth and skill in a Mercedes car.
Today Mercedes got to see just how valuable Russel will be for the team. Mercedes wasn’t looking too hot at qualifying. Their pace was much slower than that of the top cars -which is how it’s been all of this year- and they continued to fall behind.
After all three qualifying sessions, Mercedes made their way to a 5th and 6th pole position; Lewis in 5th and Russel in 6th.
The first lap started very tight, and all the cars were bunched up, trying to find the perfect openings.
Lewis was able to make the most of the opportunity, outbreaking Perez on the first turn and squeezing into 3rd. Unfortunately, as time went on, Lewis’ Mercedes could not keep the pace with the RedBull, and after many skillful defense moves, Perez took his place back, knocking Lewis to 4th.
As the race goes on, RedBull pits Verstappen knocking him down into 6th; then they pit Perez putting him down to 7th. Mercedes are both upfront, with Leclerc over 18 seconds in front.
Not even a lap later, Ferrari pulls in Leclerc to pit.
I’m excited at that moment because the closer to the front, the more of a chance you have to get a podium position (duh).
But that’s when Mercedes makes a mistake.
Mercedes pulled Lewis in way too early, causing him to fall back behind Russel and Perez. They pitted Russel, too, but they pitted him during a yellow flag which shaves off about 7 seconds on the average pit entry.
Needless to say, Lewis wasn’t happy.
But the tides turn in Mercedes’ favor when Verstappen’s car loses power and catches on fire. He was safely out of the car when the flames appeared, but A hydraulic leak had destroyed his chance of bringing himself up in points.
At the end of the race, Leclerc placed in 1st, Perez in 2nd, and Russel in 3rd, giving Mercedes one teammate on the podium and gaining points for the team.
The way their cars acted today leaves me to wonder if Mercedes is actually doing better.
I am confident that Mercedes will fix whatever pace problem and shoot to the top again. They had placed sensors on the car during the race to see what was causing them to lose pace and so hopefully in the near future we will be able to see Mercedes returning to its former glory.
