Andrew Shovlin on Mercedes’ troubles on the podium in Jeddah

Mercedes Chief Race Engineer Andrew Shovlin summarized the results of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and explained the difficulties the team faced in Jeddah.

Andrew Shovlin “The work in Formula 1 never stops, the team is constantly evaluating what conclusions can be drawn from the previous stage and how the information received can be applied to the next Grand Prix.

What conclusions can we draw from the results of the race in Jeddah?

First, we have no illusions about our backlog, which turned out to be even greater than in Bahrain. We need to improve significantly both in qualifying and in a long series of circles to fight with Ferrari and Red Bull. At the same time, we still have an edge over the mid-group teams, allowing us to experiment with settings over the weekend to achieve more.

Ultimately, our problem can be solved on the Brackley and Brixworth bases. Everyone is working hard to understand the root cause and find solutions – we will continue to work in phases in the next races.

On the track we will do our best to minimize losses and earn as many points as possible. So we have two goals: try to maximize speed during the weekends and try to get back to a level that will allow us to fight for pole positions and race wins.”

In Jeddah, Lewis Hamilton did not leave the first part of qualifying for the first time since 2017. About the reasons for this result, Shovlin said: “There are several reasons for this, but the basic answer is that we don’t understand the car as well after two races as we did at the end of the season.

Lewis and I are trying different settings in an effort to find the ones that will increase the speed. On Friday night we found an option for Saturday, which Lewis appreciated in the third practice. In qualifying we took a few more steps in the chosen direction, but in the end we overdid it.

The rear wheels of Lewis’ car had no grip and on the fast-paced city circuit in Jeddah the driver should feel confident. In a situation where the rear wheels don’t hold the track and the walls are so close together, there is no certainty. We exaggerated, but it was a rewarding experience.

The fundamental problem is that the car is not fast enough. If we don’t behave perfectly, we still run risks in qualifying. It is important to make the car faster as soon as possible.”

In the race, Lewis Hamilton did not enter the pits at the time of the virtual safety car after stopping Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso on the track. Commenting on that episode, Shovlin said, “We didn’t have that chance. When the car stopped on the track, the virtual safety car mode was on, but when Lewis drove to the pit lane, check-in was already closed, so we couldn’t make a pit stop.

The access to the pit lane was only opened after the cars were removed and the mode was turned off, but at that point Lewis stopped stepping into the “window” of the pit stop, when it would be possible to win back time due to the safety car .

What lap were we planning to pit Lewis on? We don’t have an exact answer. The situation is that the Hard tires looked very good and showed a stable speed. At that point we were trying to judge where the McLaren drivers were, who were behind us in the pit stop. Lewis and I tried to get them out of the pit stop window and gradually executed this plan.

We probably would have stopped around lap 39-40 but the aim was to get ahead of the McLaren drivers battling Valtteri Bottas and two Alpine cars. Our calculations showed that we had enough speed to overtake them on the track, which could allow Lewis to finish sixth.

Lewis started on hard tires so we had two options for the final stint, Medium or Soft, but based on data collected over the weekend it was clear that Soft would not last until the finish. On Soft you could do two or three fast laps after which it started to degrade, while Medium’s composition allowed you to reach the finish faster. †

Shovlin also appreciated George Russell’s performance in Jeddah: “George squeezed the most out of the car and finished fifth. We knew we were way behind Red Bull and Ferrari, so fifth was our best. The team is working hard to resolve the situation.

How do we evaluate his performance in general? The score depends not only on the place at the finish, but also on how he worked during the sessions, interacting with Lewis. Both our drivers are determined to find an approach to the car and get more out of it in the next races.

George has settled in well with the team. We had high hopes for him and he delivered, so the team is happy.”