Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes' director of engineering, made it clear that the team needs more than just fine-tuning for the Azerbaijan GP
The Azerbaijan GP weekend started complicated for Mercedes. On Friday morning (10), in Baku, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were seventh and 12th, respectively, in the second Formula 1 free practice. Engineering director Andrew Shovlin says internal assessment: Mercedes needs a lot more than tinkering with fine tuning.
According to Shovlin, Mercedes has deficiencies in absolutely every possible way the car can be used in Baku, much due to the fact that the car bounces around too much on street tracks. The team needs to take the rest of Friday off to understand which of the modifications it has made to the car are suitable going forward.
"The morning session was hotter and better for us than the afternoon session, with the lower temperature. Despite that, we have work to do to find lap times at qualifying pace and at race pace," he spoke.
"Balance is not a big problem, but grip is lacking in the corners and the ride on the straights is uncomfortable for the drivers. We have to improve tonight," he said.
"Our straight line speed isn't great either, but some of that is from hitting the ground on the straights. We had some new features on the car today, so we'll evaluate how they contributed. Overall, we are not in a good position. We have to make fundamental improvements, not just fine-tuning," the Mercedes director finished.
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