Mercedes believe they’re in stronger shape for this weekend’s race at Zandvoort but don’t expect to repeat the pole position they scored at the Hungaroring.
Lewis Hamilton was the quickest of the two Mercedes drivers during practice today, lapping within a tenth of a second of the two pace-setting Ferraris. His team mate George Russell was two-tenths of a second back in fifth place.Russell there was no doubt the car was “working better” than it had at Spa, where the team were stunned to find themselves 1.8 seconds off the pace in qualifying.
However he believes the team will have to keep an eye on the midfield competitive in qualifying, as their car tends to be weaker over a single flying lap. It’s going to be close tomorrow,” he said in an interview supplied by the team. “I think McLaren will be be quick, even Aston Martin.
“We still know qualifying is our weak point. I think the race will come towards us and I think our long-run pace is looking strong. But you’ve got to be starting in the right position. If we’re starting on row three it’s going to be difficult to battle for first or second.”
Mercedes scored their only pole position of the season so far in Hungary, where Russell beat the Ferrari pair by four-hundredths of a second. The Zandvoort circuit is similar in that requires a high downforce level, but Russell isn’t convinced they are likely contenders for pole this weekend.
“I feel Hungary was a bit unique,” he said. “I think our rivals didn’t quite get it right on the day and we did an absolutely stellar job and everything just sort of went towards us and we obviously only just pipped them.
“I’d be very shocked if we can have a repeat of Hungary. But I think we’re definitely closer than we’ve been in a long time so let’s see what tomorrow brings.”
He said it was “a little bit difficult” to keep an eye on his long-run pace compared to his rivals during practice “because the timing screen wasn’t working.”
“So you couldn’t really actually see where our long-run pace is really at,” he continued. “I’m sure we’re going to dive into it tonight and try to gather as much data as possible but I think we’re in a relatively good spot.”
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daniel
2nd September 2022, 22:34
Lovely to see go on George.Gutted Ham made a misjudgement he as been mega he woulda probably got Sainz for 3rd. People really are uunderrating Hamilton’s pace as George is the real deal made Lando look silly in equal cars.
daniel
2nd September 2022, 22:45
Whats funny is people use to hate on Merc engine advantage yet that Redbull is like Merc of 2014-2016 it’s a rocket 30 kmh quicker with drs open. It’s laughable the advantage in Spa you think Lewis and George is 2 secs slower lol… yet barely see a mention of Max’s “easy wins”.
Miami was a good indicator and jeddah when Red Bull were 8 tenths behind they breeze past Ferrari cannot even get into position to overtake will folks call this a gifted title? People are saying Lewis deserves less well we should deduct Max too. He has a crazy advantage like Lewis did. 2017-2020 was way more fairer in top speed.
iCarbs (@icarby)
3rd September 2022, 7:48
Same I’d say for Hamilton is what I will say for Verstappen… yes the car is quick, well done Rbr engineering team now it’s up to the driver to deliver which they are both capable of doing, consistently. Ferrari are an excellent example of what can go wrong even when the car is capable of wins.
SadF1fan
3rd September 2022, 8:02
It’s quite clear that when Merc slam their car to the ground it suddenly goes.
It’s in essence an 80s side skirt car.
Which makes it even more mesmerizing that they lobby’d for anti porpoising rules, forcing their floor up instead of down.