Sixth place and eighth place. The Mercedes qualifying in Imola shows again: In Formula 1, the silver arrows are currently fourth force. After all, both start ahead of Sergio Perez, who was already leaving in Q2. George Russell was missing a little less than four tenths on Max Verstappen. This is a progress for the silver arrows – and a sign that the latest updates hit.
Wolff: Taking baby steps towards Red Bull, George Russell overweight
So far, Mercedes in Imola has hardly improved in the chopping order of the premier class. After all, the silver arrows are clearly ahead of Aston Martin, who experienced horror qualifying. Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull seem to be a long way off. “It is as it is. We are four tenths behind Max, what we have brought works. But they are baby steps,” said Toto Wolff about the Mercedes progress at Sky Germany.
One who is particularly satisfied with progress is George Russell. “I felt very strongly throughout the qualifying. P6 was the maximum today. I am actually a half kilo too heavy this weekend. Without that, it might have been enough for P5. I blame my sandwich at noon,” so Russell. In fact, only one millennial second on Carlos Sainz in front of him was missing.
Russell is satisfied with the new updates that Mercedes brought to the W15 this weekend. “So far, the car feels best here, especially for such a difficult route. I have confidence that this is the right direction,” reports Russell.
Lewis Hamilton: Stand in the F1 field where we are
Overtaking maneuvers in the race should be difficult for the silver arrows. In addition to the Mercedes, which is not particularly fast on the straights, the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari offers little overtaking. Lewis Hamilton has Yuki Tsunoda in front of him, he sees the rest of the competition out of reach.
“The main thing is to manage the tires. The cars in front of George are faster anyway. We are where we are currently,” said Hamilton. Mercedes competitor Aston Martin experienced a horror Saturday, read more about it here.