Mercedes
Mercedes weren’t notably fast in remaining apply, Russell even saying on the radio that he was out of concepts. However their day went from dangerous to worse in Qualifying. First Antonelli clipped the boundaries coming into the Nouvelle Chicane, hitting the alternative wall as he exited Qualifying consequently. Then Russell misplaced energy in the beginning of Q2, having to be pushed out of the tunnel by the marshals to finish his day sooner than deliberate. Removed from perfect, however the staff would possibly now gamble massive on technique tomorrow to try to salvage a degree or two.
George Russell, 14th, 1:11.507
“In the present day was extremely disappointing. I felt good within the automotive in Q1, and the staff had accomplished a improbable job in turning it round after three troublesome apply periods. To not have the possibility to point out what was potential in Qualifying is each irritating and somewhat heartbreaking. I consider we had an opportunity to get the automotive onto the entrance two rows of the grid. I had solely used one set of the Delicate tyres in Q1 and the Medium compound in the beginning of Q2 felt good. It was undoubtedly coming in direction of us.
“The difficulty itself was odd. I hit a bump on the run out of Flip 1 and misplaced energy. It felt like one thing digital simply disconnected. I attempted all the pieces I might to get the automotive again to the storage after which restart it once I stopped within the tunnel. Sadly, there was nothing extra we might do. Beginning P14 tomorrow is clearly removed from perfect. That’s much more true in Monaco. It is going to be a battle to attain something greater than minor factors however, with the 2 necessary stops, let’s wait and see what occurs.”
Kimi Antonelli, fifteenth, No time set in Q2
“I’m gutted by how as we speak’s Qualifying session went. We’re at all times near the restrict in Monaco and the road between getting it proper and getting it improper is skinny. That’s notably true come Qualifying. I attempted to search out these lacking tenths however in the end had an pointless and dear mistake. I turned barely sooner than regular in Flip 10 and clipped the barrier. I broken the entrance, and I do know there was nothing I might do from there and was a passenger into the barrier. I had sufficient tempo to get by way of to the latter components of Qualifying, so it was a expensive error.
“It’s such a disgrace as a result of we had been coming again into a superb place with the automotive and I used to be discovering a superb rhythm. We had struggled the whole weekend as much as that time, however I stored enhancing lap after lap in Q1. I felt good within the automotive as we speak and I can solely express regret to the staff. Beginning P14 tomorrow in Monaco signifies that we have to suppose otherwise. We didn’t anticipate to be beginning this far again with each automobiles so tomorrow we can be trying to take any alternatives we will and chase all of the positions potential.”
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“In the present day was a troublesome day and a really disappointing outcome – to complete P14 and P15 is a great distance beneath our degree. We had been struggling for tempo in apply and made some sizeable set-up adjustments going into Qualifying. For George particularly, this made the automotive come alive and he confirmed actually robust tempo to complete Q1 within the high 5.
“Sadly, it was a tougher session for Kimi. He was proper on the cut-off when he made a small mistake on the entry of the Nouvelle Chicane – however like at all times in Monaco, it had massive penalties, and he completed within the barrier.
“We subsequently started Q2 with one automotive and George working the Medium tyre; he had discovered practically one tenth of a second within the first nook when he all of the sudden misplaced energy going up the hill to Massenet. We suspect {an electrical} fault, however the staff remains to be working to trace down the precise trigger. As he got here to a halt within the tunnel, and was unable to restart the automotive, it turned clear that he would line up simply forward of Kimi in P14. It is all of the extra irritating as George had the tempo to struggle for the entrance two rows as we speak.
“It goes with out saying that it is going to be an extended afternoon tomorrow – the necessary two stops would possibly open up extra alternatives than often occurs in Monaco, but it surely will not be straightforward to make up locations. However that, we can be giving it our all and racing exhausting to get the utmost from what has been a troublesome weekend up to now.”
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
“It’s actually disappointing to be this far down the grid with each of our automobiles for tomorrow’s race.
“We’ve been struggling the whole weekend with our single laps, and it has not been straightforward on our drivers. That has put them underneath a number of strain this weekend to ship quick laps on the crucial moments and that undoubtedly contributed to Kimi’s incident. Drivers are at all times on the restrict right here in Monaco and somewhat mistake can value quite a bit. That was actually true on his facet of the storage and that left him P15.
“On George’s facet, he was happy with the progress we had made for the reason that finish of FP3. We had been making vital setup adjustments from FP1 by way of to Qualifying and it felt like we had discovered a superb tempo by the beginning of Q1. That allowed George to solely use one set of Delicate tyres in that phase and would have been helpful within the latter components of Qualifying. In Q2, we determined to go for the Medium tyres as they seemed to be fast as nicely. Our session got here to an finish shortly after with a lack of energy after hitting a bump. We’re investigating the reason for that, but it surely seems to be like {an electrical} problem.
“Beginning P14 and P15, we are going to overview all of the strategic choices for tomorrow’s race in a single day. We all know that beginning up to now again that it received’t be a straightforward Grand Prix. The silver lining is that with the necessary two stops regulation, it ought to afford us extra flexibility and create extra alternatives. It hopefully will improve our probabilities to make progress, and we are going to stand able to take benefit.”
