Mercedes have shared how George Russell was battling a “very, very oversteery” car in the closing stages of the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, due to an “incorrect” balance adjustment during his final pit stop.
Russell finished Sunday’s race in second position, behind Ferrari rival Lewis Hamilton, with Mercedes opting for a two-stop approach and the Scuderia going aggressive on a three-stop plan – making their final pit lane visit under the Virtual Safety Car.
That was after championship leader Kimi Antonelli – who had passed Russell with five laps to go, having appeared more comfortable behind the wheel as the race wore on – ground to a halt and retired amid technical problems.
Reflecting on the encounter in Mercedes’ post-Barcelona debrief video, Deputy Team Principal Bradley Lord said: “In theory that is a race we could have won. We had really strong pace with George on the medium tyre in the opening stint, and Kimi was very strong on the hard tyres in stints two and three, where George was a bit less comfortable with the car.
“But we could only have won it if we’d have got everything right. We lost race time with the two drivers fighting each other in that second stint, and then also in the third stint. Obviously with Kimi, ultimately we had a reliability failure that cost him any chance of finishing at all.
“It’s true to say, Ferrari were a little bit fortunate with the VSC that put Lewis out on track ahead of our cars at that final pit stop. Had that not happened, then he’d have had to fight his way through the field.
“It doesn’t mean the result would have necessarily changed, but we could have put ourselves in a stronger position to claim that win.”
Lord then explained the specific issue Mercedes encountered at Russell’s third stop, which contributed to his car balance troubles across the last stint.
“It was great to see George, after a difficult run of results in the last few Grands Prix, back at his best, taking pole, fighting for the race win,” Lord commented.
“[He was] doing that notwithstanding the fact that in our final pit stop, we actually incorrectly adjusted the front wing, owing to a problem with the adjuster gun. It meant he was driving with a very, very oversteery balance that certainly compromised his pace in the final stages.”
Lord also offered some thoughts on the growing threat from Ferrari, with Hamilton cutting Antonelli’s Drivers’ Championship lead to 41 points, and Mercedes also edging closer in the Teams’ Championship fight.
“Performance is changing from weekend to weekend as teams bring upgrade packages, and conditions and circuit requirements vary,” he added.
“This weekend in Barcelona, Ferrari brought a substantial update to their car, and they took a really clear step forward, both in one-lap pace, where Lewis was fighting for pole position, and then obviously in the race as well, where ultimately they took their first win of the season.
“We’ve said all along this year that notwithstanding our strong start to the season, it’s a development race, and we’re going to need to keep bringing performance each weekend – both in smaller and bigger update packages – if we want to continue to race at the front of the field.”
