What the teams said – Race day in Great Britain

Mercedes

Mercedes had automobile for the situations, however didn’t handle to get their technique calls proper. Russell stopped on the Formation Lap for slicks, nevertheless it was too early. Antonelli stayed on the inters however then moved to the slicks very early too. Because the rain began to fall, each needed to are available for inters and located themselves down the order having pitted twice. Antonelli’s day bought worse when he was rear-ended by an unsighted Hadjar within the heavy spray, and whereas he tried to proceed, the harm to his rear diffuser was too nice. As for Russell, he opted to modify again to the slicks too early and ran throughout the gravel. One way or the other on the finish of a really eventful day, he grabbed the ultimate level.

George Russell, tenth

“It’s at all times troublesome making the suitable calls in situations like right now however sadly, we didn’t handle to do this. We opted to go to the Onerous tyre after the formation lap and we then had a 25-minute window of dry climate, which ought to have enabled us to place them to good use. Sadly, we had 15-minutes of Digital Security Automotive operating. As soon as we have been operating, we have been seconds a lap faster than others however simply had an excessive amount of time to make up.

“We have been then just a few laps too early pitting again to the slick tyre after the observe had dried as soon as once more. We placed on the Onerous tyre and suffered with warm-up points. I spun and misplaced floor; we have been lucky to have the ability to battle again to P10 however total, that was a nasty day and never how I wished my house race to go. We’ll look to study from this and guarantee we come again stronger earlier than the summer season break.”

Kimi Antonelli, DNF

“That was a tricky day. I wasn’t positive about stopping for the Onerous tyre within the opening laps, however we made the decision. Sadly, the Digital Security Automotive got here out shortly afterwards and I couldn’t construct any temperature within the tyre. I struggled as soon as we have been again underway to generate the required warmth and that left me unable to utilise any tempo benefit we could have had because the observe dried.

“As soon as the rain hit, the situations turned treacherous. Even as soon as the Security Automotive had come again in, visibility was nonetheless very poor and there was a lot of standing water. That’s what caught out Hadjar and that was simply unlucky for the each of us. I attempted to proceed however the diffuser harm I suffered was an excessive amount of and we needed to retire the automobile. A weekend to neglect then however we’ll look to return again stronger in Spa.”

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“We’re all on this collectively and that was a poor efficiency throughout from us right now. We made successive selections which weren’t proper, and we might be evaluating what we did, when, and why, to make sure we enhance from this. We now have to take this end result on the chin however should be sure we don’t repeat the errors we made right now.

“The primary name to take the slick tyre on the formation lap was mistaken. From there, we spiralled from unhealthy to worse. We didn’t decide to separate methods and, if we had, Kimi’s race could have been completely different. He was unlucky to undergo race ending harm after the Security Automotive however he shouldn’t have been again within the pack and prone to that. We didn’t match the suitable dry tyre at both cease, choosing the Onerous compound which suffered a difficult warm-up. All in all, that was a tricky day and we have to bounce again within the closing two races earlier than the summer season break.”

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

“This was a really disappointing day for the crew and a troublesome finish to a tricky double-header. After beginning P4 and P10, scoring a solitary level is considerably beneath our personal expectations. George’s race was formed by the choice to take the dry tyre on the formation lap – it was a little bit of of venture, in hindsight a mistake, and it left us on the again foot for the remainder of the race.

“George drove strongly to recuperate floor on the primary two stints, however when it got here to the ultimate cease, we aimed to leapfrog Gasly by stopping for dry tyres. We overestimated how prepared the circuit was for them, nonetheless. George misplaced quite a lot of time consequently, together with a spin by means of Becketts, and was solely capable of salvage a single level on the flag.

“As for Kimi, we mirrored George’s name for dry tyres after two laps, sacrificing observe place consequently, and he was then innocent within the collision with Hadjar within the spray. This induced important harm to the diffuser, and we took the choice to retire the automobile consequently. There’s a lot for us to analyse and study from right now, and it’s crucial that we try this work, regroup and ship a a lot stronger weekend in three weeks’ time in Spa.”