Showing posts with label Mercedes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mercedes. Show all posts

Sunday, September 15, 2024

#F1 - 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Sunday "Podium after dramatic day in Baku" Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team

 

Press Information
15 September 2024


 
F1: Session Report
 
2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Sunday

 
Podium after dramatic day in Baku
  • George Russell finished third and Lewis Hamilton ninth in today's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
  • George started from P5 on the Medium tyre but suffered with rear tyre temperatures throughout his first stint.
  • It was a similar story for Lewis who, having taken a new power unit ahead of the race, started from the pit lane on the yellow-walled compound.
  • Both ditched the Medium tyre at the end of lap 13, swapping to the Hard compound tyre and went to the end of the race.
  • A gentle introduction in the opening laps paid dividends in the closing stages with George amongst the fastest runners and closing on the top-four.
  • As that group concertinaed together, contact between Sainz and Perez ended with both in the wall and promoted George to P3.
  • Lewis worked hard to battle his way through the pack, but his progress came to a halt when he reached the Williams of Franco Colapinto.
  • However, a puncture for the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg plus the Sainz/Perez incident elevated him to P9 and two hard-earned points at the flag.
  • We now head to Singapore where the team will celebrate PETRONAS' 50th anniversary at what has become something of a home race for our Title and Technical Partner.
Driver
Grid
Result
Fastest Lap
 
George Russell
P5
P3
1:46.628
 
Lewis Hamilton
PIT
P9
1:47.236
 

Strategy
Start
Stop 1
 
 
No.63
Medium
Hard (L12)
 
 
No.44
Medium
Hard (L12)
 
 


George Russell
It was a really strange race today. It was very difficult on the Medium tyre in my first stint. I was over one second off the ultimate pace and finding it hard to control the rear tyre surface temperatures. On the Hard tyre in my second stint, the car felt brilliant. In the final 20 laps, I was lapping one second quicker than those at the very front. It is hard to work out exactly why this was and is a little frustrating.
 
We were fortunate to get onto the podium and I am glad that both Carlos (Sainz) and Checo (Perez) are OK. We were having a relatively quiet run to P5 after I got past Verstappen, but we will take it. It is a good reward for all the efforts of the team after a challenging weekend on the whole.
 
Lewis Hamilton
Today was a difficult race. We had a good day on Friday, but the rest of the weekend was tough. We made some changes heading into Saturday that didn't work out, but we had to live with them. We also knew it would be challenging to overtake today. Despite the long straight, it is hard to follow through the second sector. Franco Colapinto and Oliver Bearman, who I was racing for a lot of the afternoon, did such a great job. It is great to see the youngsters like them coming through and doing so well. For their first and second races, it was very impressive.
 
Despite how tough my own race was, the positives are that George had a decent race and was able to score some good points for the team. We've also got lots of data to work through ahead of Singapore. We've got some upgrades coming before the end of the year so hopefully we can make a step closer to those at the front soon.
 
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO
We will take the positive from today that we were able to get one car on the podium. We saw that it was getting feisty at the front and that ultimately ended with Sainz and Perez in the wall. Inheriting a podium and finishing third is better than we expected but we are not fooling ourselves that, on pace today, we were P5.
 
We will analyse the race and weekend as a whole. The second half of our Grand Prix on the Hard tyre was encouraging. George was able to keep the temperatures under control and, having driven within himself early in the stint, was able to deliver strong pace in the closing stages. It was more difficult for Lewis with the traffic he faced but at moments, he showed good speed. We now head to Singapore, and it is another difficult circuit to know how everyone will perform. We will dig through the data from this weekend, aim to improve the car balance and have a stronger weekend there.
 
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
It was nice to get a car on the podium, but we aren't fooling ourselves; this weekend hasn't been good enough and we need to improve. The first stint for both drivers was weak. We couldn't stop the rear tyres from overheating, and, at one point, it was looking like we were in for a very difficult afternoon.
 
The Hard tyre suited us much better. George had clean air to work out how to get the best out of the tyres and maintain them in a good window. That served him well later in the race. We'd lost too much time early on in the race to stick with the leaders, but it was good to get the pass on Verstappen done and that proved crucial for the podium.
 
Lewis' race was difficult as he kept bumping into DRS trains and just couldn't make it through them. The closer he got to the cars ahead the more tyre overheating he suffered with. Regardless, we were not strong enough here to get a podium on merit and that's what we need to put our efforts into resolving. We've got a different challenge in Singapore next week but are looking forward to getting back on track.













Wednesday, September 11, 2024

#F1 - 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Preview Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team

 

Press Information
11 September 2024


 
F1: Race Preview
 
2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Preview

 
The first leg of the second double header after the summer break takes place in Baku.
  • Toto Talks Azerbaijan
  • Fact File: Azerbaijan Grand Prix
  • Stat Sheet: Azerbaijan Grand Prix
 
Toto Talks Azerbaijan
 
We head to Baku aiming for a better performance than we showed in Zandvoort and Monza. Both were difficult races for us. Our relative pace was not as strong as it was prior to the summer break and several of our competitors took a step forward. We showed good pace at moments across both weekends but were unable to unlock this consistently. We have spent the time since then analysing why this was. We have the opportunity to show we have done the necessary learning and made improvements both for this weekend in Azerbaijan and the following week in Singapore.
 
Both are challenging street circuits. They are bumpy, have many low-speed and 90 degree corners, but also feature plenty of high-speed sections. They pose a very different test to the ones we faced in the Netherlands and Italy. The traditional European portion of the season is now behind us. We have eight flyaway races before the chequered flag falls in Abu Dhabi. We are focused on ending the season as strongly as possible. There is plenty of racing left and we will be fighting for every point possible, starting this weekend in Baku.
 
 
Fact File: Azerbaijan Grand Prix
  • The Baku City Circuit is the fourth longest on the F1 calendar this year - only Spa, Las Vegas and Jeddah are longer.
  • A lap of the track sees drivers change gear 64 times, more than at any other circuit on the 2024 calendar.
  • The Baku City Circuit also ranks highest in terms of braking energy. No track on the 2024 calendar has more braking zones of over 2G.
  • Given the nature of a street circuit, it is perhaps no surprise that the Safety Car has been deployed five times across the last five races and is often required more than once across a Grand Prix.
  • The section from the exit at Turn 16 to the braking zone for Turn 1 is the longest full-throttle passage of the year. It is around 200 metres longer than the segment from Turns 1 to 5 at Spa-Francorchamps.
  • The 2.2 km start/finish straight therefore contributes to a very difficult restart for the leader, with a strong tow for the driver behind leaving them vulnerable into Turn 1.
  • The name Baku derives from the shortened Persian name Bad-kuye, meaning "wind city", along with Bad-kube, which means "wind-hitting." Both terms refer to the famously consistently strong winds that blow through the city.
  • Baku hosted an F1 Sprint weekend for the first time in 2023.
  • The 2024 event is taking place in September for the first time, having previously taken place in the first half of the season (April or May).
  • F1 first visited Baku in 2016, when the race was known as the European Grand Prix. It has been known as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix every year since.
  • The team has recorded three wins in Baku with three different drivers - Nico Rosberg (2016), Lewis Hamilton (2018), and Valtteri Bottas (2019).
  • George has also triumphed in Baku, winning the F2 Sprint race in 2018.

#AzerbaijanGP Preview: The Inside Line




 
 

 
 

Press Information
11 September 2024


 
F1: Race Preview
 
2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Preview

 
The first leg of the second double header after the summer break takes place in Baku.
  • Toto Talks Azerbaijan
  • Fact File: Azerbaijan Grand Prix
  • Stat Sheet: Azerbaijan Grand Prix

 
Toto Talks Azerbaijan
 
We head to Baku aiming for a better performance than we showed in Zandvoort and Monza. Both were difficult races for us. Our relative pace was not as strong as it was prior to the summer break and several of our competitors took a step forward. We showed good pace at moments across both weekends but were unable to unlock this consistently. We have spent the time since then analysing why this was. We have the opportunity to show we have done the necessary learning and made improvements both for this weekend in Azerbaijan and the following week in Singapore.
 
Both are challenging street circuits. They are bumpy, have many low-speed and 90 degree corners, but also feature plenty of high-speed sections. They pose a very different test to the ones we faced in the Netherlands and Italy. The traditional European portion of the season is now behind us. We have eight flyaway races before the chequered flag falls in Abu Dhabi. We are focused on ending the season as strongly as possible. There is plenty of racing left and we will be fighting for every point possible, starting this weekend in Baku.
 
 
Fact File: Azerbaijan Grand Prix
  • The Baku City Circuit is the fourth longest on the F1 calendar this year - only Spa, Las Vegas and Jeddah are longer.
  • A lap of the track sees drivers change gear 64 times, more than at any other circuit on the 2024 calendar.
  • The Baku City Circuit also ranks highest in terms of braking energy. No track on the 2024 calendar has more braking zones of over 2G.
  • Given the nature of a street circuit, it is perhaps no surprise that the Safety Car has been deployed five times across the last five races and is often required more than once across a Grand Prix.
  • The section from the exit at Turn 16 to the braking zone for Turn 1 is the longest full-throttle passage of the year. It is around 200 metres longer than the segment from Turns 1 to 5 at Spa-Francorchamps.
  • The 2.2 km start/finish straight therefore contributes to a very difficult restart for the leader, with a strong tow for the driver behind leaving them vulnerable into Turn 1.
  • The name Baku derives from the shortened Persian name Bad-kuye, meaning "wind city", along with Bad-kube, which means "wind-hitting." Both terms refer to the famously consistently strong winds that blow through the city.
  • Baku hosted an F1 Sprint weekend for the first time in 2023.
  • The 2024 event is taking place in September for the first time, having previously taken place in the first half of the season (April or May).
  • F1 first visited Baku in 2016, when the race was known as the European Grand Prix. It has been known as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix every year since.
  • The team has recorded three wins in Baku with three different drivers - Nico Rosberg (2016), Lewis Hamilton (2018), and Valtteri Bottas (2019).
  • George has also triumphed in Baku, winning the F2 Sprint race in 2018.

 
 
Stat Sheet: Azerbaijan Grand Prix
 
2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
 
Session Local Time (AZT) Brackley (BST) Stuttgart (CEST)
Practice 1 (Friday) 13:30 - 14:30 10:30 - 11:30 11:30 - 12:30
Practice 2 (Friday) 17:00 - 18:00 14:00 - 15:00 15:00 - 16:00
Practice 3 (Saturday) 12:30 - 13:30 09:30 - 10:30 10:30 - 11:30
Qualifying (Saturday) 16:00 - 17:00 13:00 - 14:00 14:00 - 15:00
Race (Sunday) 15:00 12:00 13:00

 
 
Race Records - Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
 
  Starts Wins Podium Places Poles Front Row Fastest Laps DNF
Mercedes 6 2 5 2 6 2 1
Hamilton 6 1 2 1 4 0 0
Russell 4 0 1 0 0 0 1
MB Power 6 2 8 2 7 1 6

 
 
Technical Stats - Season to Date (Pre-season Testing to Present)
 
  Laps Completed Distance Covered (km) Corners Taken Gear Changes PETRONAS Fuel Injections
Mercedes 4,931 25,056.343 80,679 235,906 197,520,000
Hamilton 2,466 12,561.061 40,344 117,672 98,920,000
Russell 2,460 12,466.317 40,280 118,054 98,400,000
MB Power 18,758 95,222.290 305,234 895,729 749,360,000

 
 
Mercedes-Benz in Formula One
 
  Starts Wins Podium Places Poles Front Row Fastest Laps 1-2 Wins Front Row Lockouts
Mercedes (All Time) 309 128 295 139 262 109 59 82
Mercedes (Since 2010) 297 119 278 131 242 100 54 80
Hamilton 348 105 201 104 176 67 N/A N/A
Russell 120 2 13 3 11 8 N/A N/A
MB Power 579 219 607 228 464 218 94 121