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mercedes top man thinks qualifying will be challenging

Mercedes chief: 'That will be a challenge in qualifying'

31 March 2023 at 14:36
Last update 31 March 2023 at 17:08
  • GPblog.com

Andrew Shovlin thinks his team, Mercedes, has it reasonably well in Australia, with Lewis Hamilton finished second in the first free practice session. The second practice was less representative due to the rain, but again the German team did well, with George Russell finishing fourth. However, Shovlin thinks qualifying will be a challenge with the tyres.

Mercedes is, once again, not where they want to be this season. Under the old regulations, the German team won the constructors' championship every year. Since the new regulations, Hamilton and Russell's team managed to win only one more race. This year, they still seem to have a long way to go to compete for victory.

Shovlin on Friday Mercedes

According to Mercedes' director, the circuits in Saudi Arabia and Australia are similar, which is why major changes have not been made to the W14. He thinks the setup of the cars is fine, but sees a big challenge for qualifying.

"We've found some good directions in terms of setup, but we didn't necessarily get all the good bits on the car all at the same time. The conditions are going to be even colder tomorrow so getting temperature in the tyres could be a challenge in Qualifying. We should have relevant conditions in the final practice session to understand the issues however," Shovlin said in a press release from Mercedes.