Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne lead the championship after the first round in Valencia, a race marked by controversy over energy management. Three months later, the Mercedes drivers have plummeted in the hierarchy and have not scored any points in the double meeting in New York. Their team fell from first to fifth place in the championship in two days, but the firm with the star hopes to revive quickly.
“It wasn’t the weekend we needed, nor the one that was possible”, said Ian James, the team boss. “Get back on the plane […] without having scored a single point is more than disappointing. The team is already analyzing the data, they are leaving no stone unturned to ensure we get back into the fight. Our rivals have prized points this weekend and slowly we are entering the position of the hunter, more than the hunted. “
In the second race of the weekend, Nyck de Vries only qualified in 22nd place, with raindrops disturbing Group 2 of qualifying, and he was only 18th under the checkered flag. The driver who accompanied him in the 11th row, Robin Frijns, for his part managed to climb to eighth place, at the same time preserving his second place in the championship, but Mercedes was not capable of such performing in the streets of Brooklyn.
“To be honest, we weren’t performing this weekend”, recognized Nyck de Vries, who is only tenth among the drivers with two small points registered since the success of Valence, to Motorsport.com. “We have to face the reality, we weren’t strong enough. It’s just the reality. We weren’t good enough.”
Stoffel Vandoorne hasn’t had a much better Sunday. Slowed down by a puncture in qualifying, the Belgian had to use day one tires and crossed the finish line in 12th place. “I rode on tires that had run the whole race [de samedi]“, he confided to Motorsport.com. “We lacked performance, we had difficulties with the right rear tire which was almost out of rubber when we started the race.”
Vandoorne also had to compensate with “a lack of general grip” without knowing if it really slowed him down: “It’s hard to say how much this has contributed to the overall pace. I’m confident the car remains good, the team remains good. It just seems like nothing is going in our favor and we are on a bad one. series.”
–
