The Mercedes drivers finished at Imola behind rivals Red Bull Racing, McLaren and Ferrari and both believe 6th and 7th places were the best they could have hoped for.
Lewis Hamilton (6th): “We still earned points, and this is the most important thing. In fact, we fought with few people, but those who were behind could not overtake us, so in general we can say that this is a good result. We have to admit that this is exactly the level we are at now, even though we are doing everything in our power.
There was one sharp moment where I lost about five seconds, but overall I managed to maintain a fairly confident pace. I had a good start and that was important because I was ahead of Tsunoda. I was then able to extend the first stint, allowing me to complete the race with just one pit stop.
This weekend we took a small step forward, but unfortunately it is not so noticeable against the background of the progress of McLaren and Ferrari. But we will continue to persevere, we will continue to work on new products that will allow us to increase the pace of the car. But for now we just have to try to earn more points.”
George Russell (7th): “Sixth or seventh place are not the results that can please us, and in order for the team to earn an extra bonus point for the fastest lap, I had to give up my position to Lewis.
To be honest, I’m still a little angry about this, but these are our real options now. We are clearly behind McLaren and Ferrari, but we are ahead of the rest of the pack.
Of course, everyone at the Mercedes bases in Brackley and Brixworth is working hard to make improvements, which is great to see. We just have to keep working because this weekend we used all the car’s capabilities to the full, but that only allowed us to claim 6th or 7th place. These are the results we showed in qualifying, and these are the same results in the race.
In a week’s time in Monaco we will have to compete on a track with completely different characteristics, but I don’t think we can rise to higher places there because the McLaren team is making a very strong impression. A year ago they were slower than us, but now they are one of the fastest. Therefore, I predict that we will remain in approximately the same positions in a week’s time.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
