Forward of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, one of many recurring themes of the weekend was graining. Graining occurs when the tyres are pressured earlier than reaching their optimum working window, or when ambient temperatures are too low to permit the tyres to work accurately.
Besides at Mercedes, the precise reverse was occurring: no graining, however relatively, blistering. It was an anomaly, hardly ever mentioned since racing began in Saudi Arabia, as a result of the superb asphalt in Jeddah has at all times supplied a whole lot of grip, pushing the main focus towards the graining concern.
Mercedes was actually “cooking” its tyres whereas struggling to handle the thermal degradation. It wasn’t simply accelerated put on, however relatively poor temperature administration — the identical concern that plagued Max Verstappen throughout Friday’s lengthy runs.
George Russell, Mercedes
Foto di: Peter Fox – Getty Pictures
Wanting again, throughout each follow and qualifying, it was noticeable that permitting the tyres to chill helped recuperate efficiency — even with the comfortable tires, the place it was doable to aim two or extra laps with out a vital drop in tyre efficiency.
Throughout the race, nonetheless, there was no alternative to decelerate and let the tyres breathe, inflicting the temperature to rise uncontrollably and triggering a sequence response that lowered grip, elevated sliding, and, in flip, additional overheated the tires. Whereas Ferrari managed the scenario completely, even pushing on the finish of the primary stint and shocking their rivals, Mercedes cooked its tyres.
It made for an sudden scenario, particularly contemplating that within the early season races, the W16 had proven it may handle tyre temperatures properly, corresponding to in Bahrain, the place the group accomplished the ultimate stint on comfortable tyres — a technique Ferrari even did not take into account possible.
George Russell, Mercedes
Foto di: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Pictures
It’s not a coincidence that Mercedes recognized Sakhir as a check observe to guage if the group had overcome the tyre temperature administration points found final yr with the W15 on hotter tracks.
And it wasn’t as a lot of a priority, which is why there was a way of confidence for the Saudi Arabian race, regardless of Pirelli deciding to deliver softer tyres to extend tyre administration and add one other variable to the technique entrance.
On paper, Jeddah was purported to be a observe well-suited to the traits of the W16, which on this early a part of the season had proven it may preserve tempo in medium-to-high-speed corners however struggled a bit in slower sections. For that reason, Russell’s competitiveness in qualifying wasn’t shocking. And had it not been for the ultimate hairpin, he may have truly claimed pole.
George Russell, Mercedes
Foto di: Lars Baron – Motorsport Pictures
However from the very first laps, it was clear that Russell was struggling to maintain up with the leaders, shortly falling out of Oscar Piastri’s DRS zone, and the soiled air, so it’s unrealistic to say that the problem was the identical one which affected Piastri, who needed to pit early after stressing his tyres an excessive amount of attempting to remain near Verstappen.
Race information highlights a vicious circle: the growing temperatures on Russell’s W16 triggered a noticeable discount in grip, particularly within the medium-to-high-speed corners of the second sector, which had been Mercedes’ energy on Saturday.
“It’s about how briskly we’re going by way of these corners, and for no matter purpose, we have generated extra temperature than our rivals,” Russell mentioned. “Then instantly you get to some extent the place the tyres are like a balloon. We had blistering on the entrance, blistering on the rear, after which instantly you simply haven’t any grip from the tyre in any respect.”
Evaluating telemetries between George Russell and Max Verstappen in the course of the Jeddah Race
Photograph by: Gianluca D’Alessandro
In reality, wanting on the telemetry information in the direction of the top of the stint, there have been nearly abysmal variations in comparison with the race leaders, with velocity variations of as much as 20 km/h in these sectors the place, with contemporary tyres in qualifying, the W16 was in a position to match the tempo of the rivals. Even in areas the place Mercedes had gained on Saturday, just like the lengthy nook at Flip 13 or the short chicanes at Turns 16/17 or 22/23, the Silver Arrow now not had that benefit, shedding useful tenths.
“I used to be pushing exhausting to stick with Max originally of the second stint,” Russell instructed Sky Sports activities F1, “however I knew I wasn’t going to have the ability to maintain on and we fell off that cliff in the direction of the top.
“I used to be dropping a second a lap within the final 15 laps, however to be truthful, we simply didn’t have the tempo and even when I had managed extra, I believe I nonetheless would have come house in P5.
“We all know that it’s a little bit of a weak point of our automotive for the time being. And coming house P5 on a foul day – we’ll take it – however we have to attempt to enhance it shortly.”
What’s fascinating is the distinction in method between the 2 Mercedes drivers, which was nearly fully reverse: whereas Russell suffered tyre degradation because the stint went on, in the direction of the top, Andrea Kimi Antonelli recorded his greatest sector instances, even getting near Charles Leclerc’s tempo.
Race tempo comparability of the Saudi Arabian GP between Kimi Antonelli, George Russell, and Charles Leclerc
Photograph by: Gianluca D’Alessandro
The difficulty was that the Italian had sacrificed the complete first a part of the second stint, at instances operating 7-8 tenths slower than his teammate. Not surprisingly, the hole between Russell and Antonelli considerably lowered solely within the ultimate laps, when the Englishman skilled a complete collapse, shortening the hole by simply a few seconds in comparison with what it had been earlier than the pitstop.
From the early information, Mercedes has but to search out an evidence for the problems seen within the race, however Toto Wolff emphasised that Jeddah represented a setback: “It was clearly our worst efficiency of the yr up to now. The tempo simply dropped away with blistering, overheating tyres and up to now we haven’t received an evidence.”
On this article
Gianluca D’Alessandro
Method 1
George Russell
Mercedes
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