Mercedes anticipate a powerful efficiency from their upgraded automotive within the remaining 4 Formula One season races, regardless of the setback of Lewis Hamilton’s disqualification from second place in Texas final Sunday.
Technical director James Allison stated in a post-Austin debrief on Wednesday that he was assured there could be no repeat of the extreme skid block put on that led to the exclusion.
“Of course, the disqualification is a significant blow. It is a miserable feeling. It hurts, and everybody here feels it,” stated the Briton.
“Everybody is upset and embarrassed to a degree as well because we absolutely don’t like being on the wrong side of the rules and just lamenting the lost points.”
Allison stated that feeling would quickly get replaced by “a sunny optimism of knowing that the car looked bright on this upgrade package, and we’ve got four more races to show what we can do with it.”
Mexico this weekend, with a high-altitude observe and skinny air, ought to be “pretty decent,” he added. “The corners suit us, and the pace of the car should be good.”
Mercedes received in Brazil final 12 months with George Russell, and that ought to be a race the place “all the things we just put on the car should pay good dividends.”
Las Vegas, the penultimate race of the season and a novelty for 2023 with an evening race within the chilly desert air, can be a brand new problem.
The season then ends in Abu Dhabi, the place Allison once more expects a optimistic exhibiting.
“All four races differ in character … we will keep our fingers crossed that in one of those four, the dice might roll in our favor and we’ll achieve more than just a podium.”
Allison stated Austin, regardless of the skid plate downside, had really been a “cast-iron vote of confidence in favor of what we put on the car.”
“The disqualification had everything to do with the setup and the bumpiness of the track, amplified by the fact that it was a sprint weekend,” he defined.
“We simply merely did not take sufficient margin on the finish of free follow. When we had carried out our setup, we checked the plank and every little thing all seemed high-quality, untouched after the FP1 operating.
“But the results of the race speak for themselves. We were illegal, so clearly, we should have had our car set a little bit higher up to give ourselves a little bit more margin.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com
