#F1 - 2024 Qatar Grand Prix - Friday "Positives to be taken with Sprint Qualifying front-row" Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team

 

Press Information 29 November 2024

 
F1: Session Report
 
2024 Qatar Grand Prix - Friday

 
Positives to be taken with Sprint Qualifying front-row

• George Russell will start Saturday's F1 Sprint in Qatar on the front row in P2 with team-mate Lewis Hamilton P7.
• FP1 provided tricky windy conditions with continued track improvement. The Team worked on fine tuning the car ahead of Sprint Qualifying which was run in cooler conditions.
• That translated into a more competitive showing in Sprint Qualifying as both Lewis and George progressed into SQ3.
• Prep laps were completed ahead of each flying lap in SQ2 and SQ3 to bring the tyres into their operating window, which resulted in a front row start for George.
• Lewis will line up on the fourth row with Carlos Sainz.
• George was just 0.063s shy of taking P1 and will start alongside the McLaren of Lando Norris.

Driver	FP1	SQ1		SQ2		SQ3
George Russell	P8	6 Laps 1:22.021	P3 Medium	4 Laps 1:21.488	P2 Medium	6 Laps 1:21.075	P2 Soft
Lewis Hamilton	P10	7 Laps 1:22.151	P5 Medium	6 Laps 1:21.734	P4 Medium	6 Laps 1:21.474	P7 Soft

George Russell
Today we had a really strong session during SQ3. The car was feeling great and this circuit is one of the best with the high speed corners. For my final lap, I was able to go flat through these for the first time this weekend which resulted in me confusing the engine a little, so I lost a bit of time on the exit. Ultimately Lando was a smidge out of reach today and I don't think we could have secured P1 even without this slight loss.
 
Tomorrow we'll be going for the best result we can, hopefully making a good start and then we go from there. Our focus will also be on Qualifying later in the day to ensure we can achieve the best result we can there, too.
 
Lewis Hamilton
The car felt decent today and the positive is we seem to have a fast car here in these conditions. Sprint Qualifying for me today didn't go great but George should be able to have a strong run from where he's starting tomorrow.
 
Earlier on today the long run pace felt good so hopefully tomorrow this will come into play, and we'll be able to make some progress in the Sprint. Unfortunately, from where I'm starting in P7 it's going to be difficult to compete for the win, but I'll try my best and see what I can do. We also have Qualifying tomorrow evening so hopefully we can have a good session and make some progress there, who knows what tomorrow brings
 
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
FP1 was a solid session for us which is important on a sprint weekend with there being just one hour to get the car ready for Sprint Qualifying. Our initial performance showed our single lap performance wasn't quite there, but our long run pace looked more competitive, so we were able to learn enough to make the required changes to move us in the right direction for Sprint Qualifying.
 
We were optimistic coming into the weekend but didn't expect to see our performance in the same window as we did in Vegas so George's P2 today is encouraging for the Team. Pace across the top four teams looks very close so it's beneficial to be starting the Sprint Race on the front row. Lewis was looking competitive in his final lap of SQ3 but unfortunately lost a little time in the last two corners, prior to this it looked like he was going to also finish in the top four. We have a bit of time between now and Qualifying tomorrow to continue to work on our single lap performance.

Preview

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

last weekend

2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix - Saturday "Stunning 1-2 for the team in Las Vegas" Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team

#F1 - 2024 United States Grand Prix - Saturday "Challenging Saturday for the team" Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team

 

Press Information 19 October 2024

 
F1: Session Report
 
2024 United States Grand Prix - Saturday

 
Challenging Saturday for the team

• After a positive Friday, Saturday proved more challenging for the team at the Circuit of the Americas.
• Lining up P2 and P7 for the Sprint, neither driver had the pace to fight for the top three. George was passed by the McLaren of Lando Norris before dropping back behind the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
• Lewis gained one place taking P6 with George claiming P5 at the flag.
• Qualifying took place later in the evening and proved just as, if not more, challenging.
• Both Lewis and George's efforts on the used Soft compound left them unsafe and unfortunately, Lewis' new tyre run couldn't get him out of the bottom five.
• George made it through in P4 and then progressed to Q3. After setting the sixth-quickest time on a used set of tyres, he crashed out at turn 19 on his final effort and brought an end to the session.
  

Driver	Grid	Result	Tyres
George Russell	P2	P5	Medium
Lewis Hamilton	P7	P6	Medium

Driver		Q1		Q2		Q3
George Russell		6 Laps 1:33.536	P4 Soft, Soft	4 Laps 1:33.142	P7 Soft, Soft	5 Laps 1:32.974	P6 Soft, Soft
Lewis Hamilton		6 Laps 1:34.154	P19 Soft, Soft

George Russell
Yesterday we were in the fight for P1 in Sprint Qualifying but today we were really struggling. It is confusing how our fortunes have changed so drastically from one day to another. It is clear that when we find the sweet spot of this car, we are capable of fighting for pole positions and race wins. When we don't, we are at the back of the front pack.
 
In the Sprint, I lost a position off the start and was pushing hard early on to regain that. Unfortunately, we then started to struggle with the tyres, and I went backwards. It was difficult to understand as our pace on Friday, particularly on the long run, was strong. We continued to struggle in Qualifying, although my final lap was looking strong before I locked up into turn 12. I was perhaps over-pushing into turn 19 to make up for that time and I lost the rear of the car. I am disappointed in the damage I caused to the car and the work that will have to go on overnight now to repair it.
 
Lewis Hamilton
That was a tough day. The Sprint was a difficult session for us with the car not feeling as strong as it did yesterday. The temperature was warmer than on Friday and that didn't seem to suit us. We made some changes ahead of Qualifying to counteract that and try to push us in a direction that could get the car closer to how it felt on Friday, but we continued to struggle.
 
Tomorrow will be difficult for us starting P19. It will be hard to come across opportunities, but I will be giving it my all to move forward. The car today suffered from an inconsistent balance and a lack of grip so hopefully it will be in a better place on Sunday.
 
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO
A disappointing and frustrating day. After a strong Friday, we were hopeful of a good showing and it quickly became clear in the Sprint that we didn't have the pace of our nearest competitors, falling back to finish a distant P5 and P6. Added to that, the handling balance both drivers had enjoyed the day before was missing and they were struggling with tyre overheating - Lewis on the rear axle, George on the front. We made some set-up changes to tackle this ahead of Qualifying, but we continued to struggle and couldn't unlock the same level of performance we had seen on Friday, with Lewis finishing P19 and George P6 but unable to complete his final flying lap.
 
Tomorrow's race will therefore be an uphill battle: there is a major repair job ahead for George after the Q3 crash. With Lewis starting P19, it will be a case of damage limitation in the race: fighting for meaningful points will be tough and we need things to fall in our favour to do so.
 
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
After a promising Friday, this was a tough Saturday. It became apparent early in the Sprint that we didn't have the speed of our competitors. We were pushing hard to keep up with those ahead and that put extra energy through the tyres. That overheating bit us hard in the second half of the race and we could only manage P5 and P6. We also found a broken part on Lewis' front suspension post Sprint and that definitely impacted the overall balance.
 
In an effort to get the car back to the sweet spot we had on Friday, we made some set-up adjustments ahead of Qualifying. Sadly these didn't have the desired effect. A consistent balance continued to elude Lewis although he was unfortunate to be knocked out in Q1 having been impacted by traffic in sector one. George fared slightly better and was on a strong lap in Q3 but came unstuck at turn 12 with a lock up and then finally turn 19 with his off.
 
We have a lot of work to do to get George's car ready for the race. The team will be working hard through the evening in order to do that. We know tomorrow will likely be a tough fight but we will continue to work diligently and hard, looking to take advantage of any opportunities that come our way.

Preview

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

FF1600 Festival Brands Hatch Livestream Saturday - Sunday 

#F1 - 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix - Saturday "Third row for the team in Mexico" Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team

 

Press Information 26 October 2024

 
F1: Session Report
 
2024 Mexico City Grand Prix - Saturday

 
Third row for the team in Mexico

• George Russell qualified fifth and Lewis Hamilton sixth for Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix.
• The team used its second of two 'jokers', thus breaking curfew, overnight in order to repair George's car following yesterday's shunt.
• A change of chassis was required but he hit the track for FP3, completing work on the Soft compound just like his team-mate.
• Both drivers progressed through to Q3 in Qualifying, holding one lightly used and one new set of the red-walled tyre.
• George and Lewis initially sat third and fourth after those first runs but, despite improving on their last laps on the new tyre, dropped to P5 and P6.
• Just 0.185s separated Verstappen on the front-row in P2 and George in P5.

Driver	FP3	Q1		Q2		Q3
George Russell	P8	8 Laps 1:17.194	P10 Medium, Soft, Soft	5 Laps 1:16.937	P5 Soft, Soft	6 Laps 1:16.356	P5 Soft, Soft
Lewis Hamilton	P5	8 Laps 1:17.306	P11 Medium, Soft, Soft	5 Laps 1:16.973	P6 Soft, Soft	6 Laps 1:16.651	P6 Soft, Soft

George Russell
Firstly, a big thank you to everyone in the garage for working so hard to get the car ready for today. There was extensive damage, and we had to change the chassis overnight. I am therefore happy with our recovery from yesterday. We are still running the previous specification package which we've had for the last 12 races, so to be less than two tenths off the front-row is a solid effort.
 
My final lap felt good, and I was happy with it as I crossed the line. P5 was likely the most we could have hoped for today given the speed of those in front. I don't think we quite have the race pace of the four cars ahead but let's see tomorrow. I also expect that they will be scrapping quite hard so maybe the race will come towards us.
 
Lewis Hamilton
The car felt good in FP3, but I didn't have that same feeling in Qualifying. We made a few small set-up adjustments after that final practice session as we tried to find a little more speed. Unfortunately, they didn't bring that extra lap time, and we had to settle for P6.
 
It's going to be difficult to challenge the guys ahead tomorrow. They've looked quick, particularly the Ferraris and the McLaren of Norris. Whilst we may not be able to fight them on pure pace, we will be looking to take advantage of any chances that come our way. It is also a long run down to the first corner so making positions off the start could be the key to our race.
 
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO
P5 and P6 was a fair result today. We didn't have the pace of the front three teams so the third row was likely the best we could have managed. We still needed to execute well though; Qualifying was not straightforward with both Red Bull and McLaren losing a car in Q1. Ultimately, we were within two tenths of the front row with George, who is running the previous specification this weekend. Whilst that is a little frustrating, it can give us encouragement heading into tomorrow's race that we may be able to pick up the pieces if those ahead don't execute well.
 
It was a tougher session for Lewis. He only made small set-up changes after FP3, but he didn't feel as comfortable with the car as he had done earlier in the day. It was a solid job to take P6 and he will be looking forward tomorrow.
 
Finally, it is important to recognise the great work of the team in the garage. They have not had an easy time of it in the past couple of races. After George's accident yesterday, they worked through much of the night to get the car ready and did a superb job. To consistently operate at that level, particularly during an intense triple-header, is testament to the team spirit and professionalism that keep driving us forward.
 
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
The team worked hard through the night to repair George's car following yesterday's accident in FP2. It was a heavy shunt and there was extensive damage, including to the chassis. That forced us into a switch of chassis, but we were able to complete the work and have both cars on track for FP3. That is a major credit to the team in the garage, who have had dealt with the challenges that have come our way both here and in Austin effectively and efficiently.
 
Heading into Qualifying, we knew we would have a tall task to get ourselves into the fight for the top-three. The Ferraris have looked quick all weekend and McLaren popped up in FP3 with some competitive times. It is therefore frustrating that we fell just a couple of tenths shy of getting on the front-row. We know that P5 and P6 is likely a fair result though given our pace so far this weekend. With the speed of those ahead, we know it won't be easy to make progress from the third row. Nevertheless, will be looking to take every opportunity that comes our way tomorrow to do so.
 

Preview

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

webmaster     John Nichols    @itcracing    @Linkedin 

#F1 #MexicoGP

The drivers took to the track for a dramatic qualifying session, featuring a red flag in Q2 and two shock exits in Q1!

 

#F1 - 024 Qatar Grand Prix - Saturday Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS TEAM

 

Press Information 30 November 2024

 
F1: Session Report
 
2024 Qatar Grand Prix - Saturday

• After a positive Friday for the Team this continued into Saturday, first with the Sprint Race followed by Qualifying later in the evening.
• Lining up P2 and P7 for the Sprint, George finished P3 after being passed by the McLaren of Oscar Piastri on the first lap and Lewis was P6, having run P5 for the first half of the race.
• Qualifying took place later in the evening and proved to again be a very close session between the top four Teams.
• Both Lewis and George continued to make progress throughout the sessions on the soft compound with George securing P2 and Lewis taking P6.
• George was unable to improve on his final lap and missed out on securing pole by just 0.055s.

F1 Sprint
 

Driver	Grid	Result	Tyres
George Russell	P2	P3	Medium
Lewis Hamilton	P7	P6	Medium

Qualifying
 

Driver		Q1		Q2		Q3
George Russell		11 Laps 1:21.241	P1 Medium, Soft, Soft	9 Laps 1:21.069	P4 Soft, Soft	8 Laps 1:20.575	P2 Soft, Soft
Lewis Hamilton		10 Laps 1:21.637	P7 Soft, Soft	9 Laps 1:21.095	P5 Soft, Soft	8 Laps 1:21.011	P6 Soft, Soft

George Russell
Today has been a great day, it's good to be in this groove at the moment with four front row starts. My first Q3 lap was really strong and I was pleased with it but unfortunately I wasn't able to improve on my final lap. This was mainly due to the scrappy out lap I had with the near miss with Max that meant I ended up in the gravel so that didn't help prep wise ahead of my final push lap. I'm still really pleased with P2, I'm taking all the positives and I'm feeling great in the car.
 
It's going to be exciting tomorrow as the top four teams are very close. Starting on the right side of the track does seem to have a slight disadvantage, which we saw earlier on in the Sprint Race for the majority starting on this side of the track, which meant I couldn't fight with Lando. I'm hoping tomorrow we'll be able to fight with Max and stay ahead of those behind us, our race pace this morning looked good and the tyres seem resilient so I'm hoping we don't end up in another DRS train and we can have some fun. There's a lot of possibilities to do something different, I'm looking forward to it.
 
Lewis Hamilton
It was a pretty straight forward session for us in qualifying, the car was feeling decent and we were able to fix the bouncing. The tyres and the grip of the track was feeling great, this track is amazing. My last lap in qualifying unfortunately wasn't great, I had the car snapping away from me which meant I lost time and couldn't improve higher than P6. I was giving it everything and was generally feeling good but didn't improve when I crossed the line.
 
Tomorrow I'm hoping for a good race, this track is great to drive so it should be an exciting race. I'm hoping the car will be in a better place tomorrow and we'll be able to make some improvements. Unfortunately, today in the sprint all of the top Teams were really quick and it was hard to overtake but 'll be giving it my all in the race tomorrow.
 
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO
Overall, we are happy with the results we have seen today as a Team. The car seems to function well in these conditions as we can run the car low and stiff on a smooth track which ultimately suits the characteristics of our car and George seems to like the way it drives. We've seen this over the last couple of qualifying sessions and races. George was performing well in Q3 but was just lacking half a tenth to secure pole against Max.
 
For Lewis this generation of cars aren't always suiting his driving style, he likes to be aggressive on corner entries and unfortunately this car at the moment can't quite take it, especially on qualifying laps when it's right on the edge. Lewis in the race, however, usually manages to turn it around like last week where he was overtaking car after car and coming through the pack. We'll see what tomorrow brings and hopefully we can deliver another good result with both cars for the Team.
 
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
The Sprint Race was a bit frustrating, George lost a place into turn 1, he couldn't quite tuck in and lost a bit of ground to Piastri by not having a tow. It felt like we were close to getting a pass on a couple of occasions but once Lando was helping him out with DRS it was impossible to get through. Lewis had a good start, getting up to P5 but took a bit too much out of the tyres and dropped a place from there. It's a shame that the DRS zone was shortened for this year as it's always difficult to pass on the sprint races with everyone on the same age tyres, this has just made it even harder.
 
Qualifying was reasonable but frustrating for George to end up less than 60ms off pole for the second day in a row. The car was working well. It felt like George had a good shot at pole with a strong first lap but our second run wasn't clean and he failed to improve. Lewis was lacking a bit of rear stability in places which was preventing him going any quicker but P6 will still put us in the fight at the front. From the Sprint this morning it looks like the long run performance is very similar between all the cars so it should make for an interesting race.

Preview

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

#F1 - 2024 São Paulo Grand Prix - Sunday "Battling results for George in P4 and Lewis in P10 at Interlagos" Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team

 

Press Information 3 November 2024

 
F1: Session Report
 
2024 São Paulo Grand Prix - Sunday

 
Battling results for George in P4 and Lewis in P10 at Interlagos

• George Russell finished fourth and Lewis Hamilton tenth in Sunday's Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
• In a compressed Sunday schedule, qualifying and the race were held on the same day, with qualifying at the unusually early hour of 07:30 local time.
• George led the field into Turn 1 after a strong start from P2, and headed the field until a VSC period was called on lap 28.
• Using the VSC period, which coincided with a heavy run shower the team called George to the pits to fit fresh intermediate tyres, followed by Norris from P2.
• George rejoined in P4, and was passed for P5 by Norris before the race was red flagged.
• Resuming after the red flag, George climbed to P4 but was unable to make further progress without the overtaking assistance of DRS.
• Lewis started from P14 owing to incidents for other cars in qualifying and drove a battling race to secure the final point.
• Struggling throughout for rear grip and confidence, Lewis spent the final stint stuck behind Lawson's slower car, unable to pass in the wet conditions.

Driver	Grid	Result	Fastest Lap
George Russell	P2	P4	1:21.645
Lewis Hamilton	P14	P10	1:22.041

Strategy	Start	Stop 1
No.63	Intermediate	Intermediate (lap 28)
No.44	Intermediate	Intermediate (red flag)

George Russell
That was an intense race and there's lots for us to debrief and learn from. I got a good start and I was surprised at the pace in the opening stint - we didn't have the right tyre pressures on the set, and we were expecting them to drop off, so that was encouraging. When the VSC came with the heavy rain, I was in favour of staying out as I thought there would be a red flag - it was like driving a point at points, with the aquaplaning on the straights. I pitted and so did Lando, and we ended up P4 and P6 at the finish, while the cars that stayed out finished ahead. But it's easy to make the call after the race, and we're in this together, trying to make the best calls with the information we have available. I think we would have taken P4 at the start of the weekend; but of course, after qualifying P2 and running in the lead for the first half of the race, it's hard not to feel some regret for the opportunity we missed today.
 
Lewis Hamilton
That was such a tough race for us today - and probably one of the most difficult race weekends of the season, to be honest. The car has been very difficult to drive all weekend, and it didn't hook up at any point during the race either. But even with the results today, it's hard to come away upset because the fans here are incredible. It was such an unusual day with the early qualifying session, and they were queuing up from 04:00 this morning - and you just cannot beat that commitment and positivity, no matter what the result on track. It was so emotional to drive Senna's car in front of them all this morning, and to connect with the five-year-old child inside of me. That was a very special moment for me, and I'm very grateful we could make it happen today in spite of the conditions.
 
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

It has been a tough triple header for the team - and the final day of competition continued in very much the same way. Qualifying and the race itself were bittersweet: Lewis struggled for confidence in the car, and did not progress past Q1 in a session that saw several cars finish out of position; George was able to build greater confidence in the rear end in particular and took a strong P2 on the grid. The aborted start led to some unusual circumstances but when the race proper began, George ran strongly at the head of the field until the VSC came out at the same time as a heavy rain shower. We wanted to use that opportunity to change his worn intermediate tyres and were followed into the pits by Norris from second place - while Verstappen and the Alpine drivers stayed out and took the gamble on a Safety Car or red flag, which subsequently came. When racing resumed, with everybody on new tyres, George was able to get past Leclerc into P4 but then - as we saw up and down the field today - got stuck behind an ultimately slower car and was unable to overtake, without DRS available. It was the same story for Lewis a little further back, who climbed into the points but was unable to pass Lawson despite several close attempts. P4 and P10 feel like a meagre reward after leading the first part of the race, but there's plenty for us to pick through and learn from across this weekend, and from the last three races. We will be focusing on that work in the coming days, to give ourselves the strongest foundation for the final triple header of the season

Preview

Friday

Saturday rain stopped qualifying

Sunday

Mercedes Mexico

Preview

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

webmaster     John Nichols    @itcracing    @Linkedin 

Photos

F1 Sprint Highlights | 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix

Race Highlights | 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix