Second in Austin, Mercedes sees the glass half full

The reigning World Champion team since 2014 had to leave the victory in the United States Grand Prix to their rival Red Bull, the conservative strategy of Lewis Hamilton having failed to bear fruit. In the general classification, the gap between the two structures drops to 23 points, still to the advantage of Mercedes, while Max Verstappen enjoys a 12-point lead over Hamilton.

However, the star brand is not let down and focuses on the positive. Andrew Shovlin, Head of Track Engineering, witnessed the German team’s loss to Red Bull at the Dutch Grand Prix in early September, but unlike Zandvoort’s situation, Mercedes was able to push its competitor into its last entrenchments on American soil.

“This is one of the most difficult we have experienced in quite some time.”Shovlin said of the US GP weekend. “Since the break [estivale] probably. Only Zandvoort was as difficult as this one. Max beat us on Sunday but I don’t think he won with a comfortable lead. We pushed [Red Bull] to take risks. So if this is a bad race for us, I hope we have better ones so that we are in a good position. “

Given the difference in philosophy between the Mercedes W12 and the Red Bull RB16B, the two single-seaters exchange first place depending on the character of the track visited by F1. So the RB16B loved the mid- and high-speed curves of the Austin circuit, even though Verstappen crossed the finish line less than two seconds ahead of Hamilton, who made the fastest lap. And according to Shovlin, when it’s the star brand that is in a strong position, the Austrian rival has a lot more difficulty keeping up.

“I think with our pace in Turkey and Sochi, especially during the race, we were further ahead [Red Bull] that them in front of us here [à Austin]”, he added. “Qualifying was tough and we managed to get a car on the front row. For the remaining races, it will all depend on how the cars behave. For us, what is encouraging is that we can still put pressure on them. when we clearly didn’t have the best car [à Austin].”

Although Austin has been one of Mercedes’ favorite playgrounds in the past, the strain on the rear tires has limited the team’s performance this season. “We were aware of the areas in which we could be in difficulty”, Shovlin revealed. “As I’ve already said, [Red Bull] was in a better position in Zandvoort as we struggled with the rear end. The Zandvoort experience worried us here [à Austin] because we knew this was one of those tracks where the tires were overheating. “

“But we don’t really approach races with a chart of where we’re going to be fast and where we’re going to be slow. We know what we have to do on our car, we know what we have to do to get the tires to be. in the correct window of use and we know what we need to do on Friday to be able to act accurately. “

“Mexico is a place that in the past put [le châssis Red Bull] and the Honda power unit in value. But regardless of that, we still have to come up with a car that performs to the best of its ability and give Lewis and Valtteri a machine that allows them to do the best job they can. It’s the only thing we’re working on. We don’t care where Red Bull is at. “

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