Mercedes blunders strategically: "That took a lot of time"
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Mercedes was again super dominant in Formula 1 last weekend in Austria. With the first and second place in their pockets Mercedes already has a big lead over their competitors. Despite the amount of points it didn't exactly run smoothly for the German race stable. Mercedes strategist James Vowles explains it to us.
Late in the race both Mercedes drivers were told that they were struggling with big problems in their gearbox. So big even, that they weren't allowed to drive on the kerbs anymore. With a delay in lap times as a result. Vowles versus Mercedes youtube channel: "The Austrian circuit is very aggressive, especially with the kerbs. But to make a good lap you have to use those kerbs. That gave us electrical problems. It was a big problem that could have knocked out both cars"
Strategic doubts
And not only that. Mercedes' strategy also left a lot to be desired: When George Rusell of Williams had to stop with an engine problem, the Safety Car entered the track. To everyone's surprise not one of the Mercedes drivers came in for a pit stop, and therefore missed an excellent opportunity for fresh tyres: "Lewis had lost a lot of time and was probably behind Perez and Albon. Albon was incredibly fast on the fresh tyres and we had to discuss whether we thought it was worth finding out. That took a lot of time."
All in all, not everything went smoothly at Mercedes this weekend. If they do perform optimally next weekend, it will certainly not benefit the competition.