Mercedes
Antonelli got here into Flip 3 slightly scorching after recognizing a niche on the within, and locked up. That despatched him straight on and whereas he managed to keep away from Lawson, he couldn’t keep away from the Purple Bull of Verstappen. He hit the RB21 onerous sufficient to ship each Verstappen and himself into instant retirement – however held his fingers up and apologised instantly. He was handed a three-place grid drop for the following race.
Russell picked off Hamilton into Flip 1, however misplaced the place again fairly rapidly. On a scorching day, his Mercedes dropped again from the Ferraris as he couldn’t maintain tempo on the market. Fifth was a case of injury limitation on a weekend that didn’t appear to play to his group’s strengths.
George Russell, fifth
“This Austrian Grand Prix weekend simply confirmed the place our strengths and weaknesses are with the W16. When it’s too scorching, we are inclined to underperform, and we actually battle to maintain up with the leaders’ tempo. P5 was due to this fact the utmost we might have executed in the present day. Ending 60 seconds away from the profitable driver in Lando (Norris) reveals the work we have to do. Fortunately, we all know the areas the place we have to enhance and we will probably be working onerous in the direction of this.
“We now rapidly transfer on to subsequent weekend. Silverstone final 12 months was a extremely good race. We obtained pole place and confirmed good potential earlier than our retirement. The group tends to do very well on the British Grand Prix so hopefully we will replicate that after once more. We’ve got our fingers crossed that the situations will probably be barely cooler than this weekend and we will get again within the combat for the rostrum.”
Kimi Antonelli, DNF
“I’m very disillusioned with how in the present day performed out. After the lights went out, I used to be simply making an attempt to keep up my beginning place however made a mistake coming into Flip Three and that price me loads. I didn’t brake too late however after making an attempt to keep away from Liam (Lawson) I locked the rear brakes. I then locked the entrance brakes too and couldn’t keep away from the crash with Max (Verstappen).
“We didn’t get to see how our race would have performed out so apologies to the group. I additionally need to apologize to Max for ruining his race too. This was a giant mistake, and I do know we might have fought for a superb outcome with out it. Fortunately, we’ve obtained a race right away subsequent weekend, so our full focus is already on Silverstone.”
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“In the present day was not how we wished issues to go. The error made by Kimi was unlucky, however that is what racing is. We now must analyse what occurred to grasp higher why the tyres locked the best way they did. It was a disgrace for Kimi, us as a group, and likewise for Max (Verstappen) too, however that is simply a part of racing generally.
“George in the meantime had a lonely race. He in the end maximised the automobile we had in the present day, however he was not threatened by these behind however neither had the tempo to problem the Ferraris or McLarens forward. The limiting elements for us are a extra abrasive asphalt, longer corners and excessive temperatures. That’s what we confronted in the present day however the hole we noticed in the present day was too large to cut back it all the way down to these three parts alone. We are going to have a look at all the info and discover options. Thankfully, we get again racing right away subsequent weekend. We’re extra assured heading there because the decrease temperatures ought to assist us carry out higher and now we have been aggressive at Silverstone lately.”
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
“It’s a disgrace that Kimi’s race obtained minimize quick at Flip Three. He locked the rear axle going into the nook, tried to keep away from the automobiles forward however sadly locked the entrance brakes too and bumped into Max (Verstappen). This sadly marked the tip of his race in Austria.
“On the opposite facet of the storage, George struggled loads together with his tyre degradation. The situations had been a lot hotter than what we had in Free Apply and managing his tyres fastidiously was the one alternative he was left with. The excessive temperatures right here simply confirmed the place our weak spot is once more, and we’ll work actually onerous to resolve this for the upcoming races.
“After struggling this a lot in scorching races, we now have a greater understanding of the place we stand and what must be executed to carry out higher. The following few days will see intense work from the group and hopefully we can combat for a podium in Silverstone.”
