#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 - 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 São Paulo Grand Prix - Friday "A challenging Sprint Qualifying session on the bumps of Interlagos" Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team

Press Information 1 November 2024

 
F1: Session Report
 
2024 São Paulo Grand Prix - Friday

 
A challenging Sprint Qualifying session on the bumps of Interlagos

• George Russell will start Saturday's F1 Sprint in Sao Paulo from P6 with team-mate Lewis Hamilton in P11.
• This weekend, both drivers are once again running the updated configuration of the W15 that was first introduced in Austin.
• George finished FP1 in a strong P2 while Lewis was further down the timesheets only because he was the sole driver not to run the Soft tyre in the session.
• During the break between the sessions, small set-up changes were made to the set-up, including raising the car's ride height to cope with the bumpy track surface.
• Both drivers struggled for confidence with the car during the session; in spite of a significant improvement on his second run of Q2, Lewis fell just short of the top 10 and will start P11.
• George was able to complete a late run on the Soft tyre in Q3, taking P6 with a half-second gap to pole sitter Oscar Piastri.

Driver	FP1	SQ1		SQ2		SQ3
George Russell	P2	6 Laps 1:10.479	P10 Medium	6 Laps 1:09.683	P8 Medium	3 Laps 1:09.443	P6 Soft
Lewis Hamilton	P16	6 Laps 1:10.625	P13 Medium	7 Laps 1:09.941	P11 Medium

George Russell
That was a challenging session as the track cooled through Sprint Qualifying. Finishing P6 is reflective of where we are right now, at the back of the front pack of teams, and with a pace delta to the next group behind us. I enjoy the challenge of Sprint weekends, getting straight into the action, and of course today has also brought the slightly unexpected challenge of a very bumpy track - which obviously is the same for everyone. For tomorrow, I will be looking to move forward and using the Sprint to work out where we can improve the car for qualifying and the Grand Prix on Sunday.
 
Lewis Hamilton
It has been a difficult day for me - notwithstanding the incredible support from the amazing fans here in Brazil. I think the ride on the bumpy surface has been pretty bad for everyone, and it made FP1 very challenging inside the cockpit. We lifted the car during the break and improved the situation, but the pace simply wasn't there when it came to the timed laps - the balance is on a knife edge, and the car just so tricky to drive and I couldn't attack any of the corners as I wanted to. I hope we can move forward from P11 during the Sprint and keep working to figure out how to find the sweet spot of the balance in qualifying tomorrow afternoon.
 
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
It has been a challenging day for us in Interlagos. Running in very warm conditions in FP1, it quickly became clear that the resurfaced track was as bumpy as ever, and that this would provide us with a set-up challenge for the weekend. Both drivers completed decent long runs, and we made relatively small changes going into Sprint Qualifying. Once we began running, it became clear that neither George nor Lewis were completely happy with the balance, suffering with snaps at the rear. This cost Lewis confidence and lap time, and saw him knocked out of SQ2 by less than 0.1s. George was able to reach SQ3, eventually taking P6 but with a substantial gap to Piastri on pole. The Sprint tomorrow is going to be useful to learn about the long run balance ahead of qualifying in the afternoon. It's normally a good circuit for overtaking so if we have pace, there's every opportunity for both drivers to move forward.

Preview

Friday

Saturday rain stopped qualifying

Sunday

Mercedes Mexico

Preview

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

webmaster     John Nichols    @itcracing    @Linkedin 

Sprint Qualifying Highlights | 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix

#F1 - 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix - Sunday "Solid points on Sunday in Mexico" Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team

 

Press Information 27 October 2024

 
F1: Session Report
 
2024 Mexico City Grand Prix - Sunday

 
Solid points on Sunday in Mexico

• Lewis Hamilton finished P4 with George Russell P5 in Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix.
• George lined up P5 with Lewis P6, both on the Medium tyre and through the opening corners, Lewis managed to get ahead of his team-mate.
• Later in that first stint, George used DRS to regain the position before both cars boxed and cycled ahead of the Red Bull of Max Verstappen who served a 20-second penalty for forcing the McLaren of Lando Norris off track in multiple incidents.
• Early in his second stint, it became clear that the top element on George's front-wing had suffered damage.
• Despite that issue, his pace was still strong and both cars began to edge away from Verstappen behind.
• In the closing stages, Lewis passed George for P4 into turn one with his team-mate therefore following him home across the line in P5.
• The team now heads to Brazil for the São Paulo Grand Prix, the third race of this Americas triple-header.

Driver	Grid	Result	Fastest Lap
Lewis Hamilton	P6	P4	1:20.371
George Russell	P5	P5	1:20.731

Strategy	Start	Stop 1
No.44	Medium	Hard (L28)
No.63	Medium	Hard (L31)

Lewis Hamilton
We ultimately moved forward and brought home good points today for the team. We weren't looking so racy in the first stint; I didn't have enough front-wing in the car and was suffering with lots of understeer. We were able to improve the balance at our second stop and our pace got better. Even if we had enjoyed that speed in the first stint though, we still wouldn't have had the pace to challenge those ahead for the podium. P4 and P5 is still slightly better than we predicted today though so we can be pleased with our afternoon.
 
This hasn't been the smoothest weekend for the team, but we've gathered a lot of information across both specifications. We can now analyse that data and evaluate the best way forward for next weekend in Brazil and the rest of the season. Hopefully we can get the car in a slightly better spot for Interlagos and take the fight to the Ferraris and McLarens.
 
George Russell
I had a strong first stint, but I hit a bump as I overtook the McLaren of Oscar Piastri at the start of my second stint and picked up some front-wing damage. It was definitely costing me a couple of tenths a lap in terms of performance which was a bit of a shame. We had to do over 30 laps carrying that but even without it, we wouldn't have had the speed to challenge for the podium. Overall, then, P4 and P5 is likely where we deserved to be today as a team and perhaps a little bit better than we thought going into the race.
 
We will keep working hard to improve as we want to be battling right at the front. We continue to make progress with the car, as you can see with the gap increasing to the teams behind us in the championship. We've also closed the gap on Red Bull since the start of the season but it's clear that Ferrari and McLaren have made even more progress. We will use these final four races of the season to continue building our learning, test different things out, and set ourselves up well for next year.
 
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO
Overall, P4 and P5 is likely where we are pace-wise with our car at the moment. On circuits that demand good traction, we are not able to compete with those right at the very front. That is frustrating but we are working hard to bring more performance and build momentum for 2025. These final few races are a good opportunity for us to test different things and put ourselves in as strong a position as possible for next year.
 
In today's race, George was hindered by front-wing damage which was costing him a good chunk of performance. He still drove strongly, and his pace was decent compared to Verstappen behind. The Red Bull never became a threat to our race after the first pit stop. We also saw that, once he was in free air, Lewis' speed was good on the Hard compound and comparative to those at the front. We now head to Brazil and will be looking to end the triple-header as strongly as possible.
 
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
Without incidents, P4 and P5 is likely the best result we could have brought home today. Once Verstappen picked up his penalty, we believed we would be interacting with him at some point after those first stops. Encouragingly, both George and Lewis had the speed to pull away from him and score solid points. George was hindered when the front wing flap collapsed after he hit a bump during an overtake at the start of the second stint. Despite that, he still maintained good enough pace to bring it home in fifth. We let the drivers race each other throughout; that meant that Lewis' tyres were past their best once he made it into clear air. We didn't get a great read on our ultimate pace but clearly we need to find more speed if we are to challenge right at the very front.
 
It has not been the smoothest of weekends here in Mexico or at the previous race in Austin. We have learnt a lot as a team though over both Grands Prix. With our position in the Constructors' Championship likely set, we also have the opportunity to further our learning over the final four races. We will continue to do that as we head to Brazil and Interlagos for the final race in this triple-header.

Preview

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

webmaster     John Nichols    @itcracing    @Linkedin 

Race Highlights | 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix