Within the growth of its W16 for 2025, Mercedes has invariably retained one among its key weaknesses from final season – poor thermal administration, notably on the rear axle.
Though that is truly helpful in colder races, as demonstrated by its dominance of 2024’s Las Vegas race, Mercedes is prone to overheating its tyres amid larger temperatures.
Each Mercedes drivers tried lengthy runs in FP2 on the tender tyre in an effort to work out a set-up to maintain the tyres away from the realms of thermal degradation on Sunday – Russell did an 18-lap stint, Andrea Kimi Antonelli a 16-lap stint.
Russell felt that his outcomes thus far at Barcelona alluded to the concept that Sunday’s race will probably be tough, because the workforce had met its anticipated qualifying efficiency, with Russell taking fourth and team-mate Antonelli in sixth.
Nevertheless, provided that the race is on the C1-2-3 suite of Pirelli tyres, the Briton was pinning his hopes on the concept that the toughest tyre would endure much less drop-off underneath overheating versus the softer grades of rubber.
“We all know that on a Saturday our automobile is anyplace between P2 and P5, that is the place it has been all season,” Russell stated.
“And once more as we speak, so it is good we managed to get to Q3 solely on two units of tyres, so I’ve bought a brand new tender tyre tomorrow which is a sound race tyre, in order that’s a optimistic. However we’re real looking, we all know that the automobile is not fast on Sundays.
George Russell, Mercedes
Photograph by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Pictures through Getty Pictures
“We additionally made a number of adjustments to the automobile this weekend to try to enhance the race tempo, so to see that we have not actually hindered the qualifying tempo is a optimistic. However then additionally it could imply it is not going to enhance the race tempo. [The race] goes to be an fascinating one for us.
“We struggled lots when it was the tender compound of tyres when it was scorching, however when it was the arduous compound of tyres in Bahrain and it was scorching, we clearly completed second there.
“So it is when the tyres overheat, as an instance if the tyres overheat by 10 levels on a C4, it is rather more punishing than 10 levels on a C1 tyre. In order that’s type of the one slight silver lining to offer us a little bit of hope for tomorrow.”
Antonelli concurred, though he drew consideration to the long-run knowledge that Mercedes had accrued over the Friday observe classes.
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The Italian felt that Mercedes’ return to its regular Saturday type after a bruising pair of races at Imola and Monaco was partly all the way down to rolling again on the suspension package deal it took to the Emilia-Romagna spherical. He added that the workforce would want extra time to get its head across the results earlier than reinstating it to the automobile.
“I believe tomorrow goes to be actually arduous with the recent temperature and we’ll see, however the purpose is to try to hold these tyres [in the best possible condition],” he stated.
“We have been doing a number of lengthy runs, we’ve numerous knowledge, however the others are additionally very robust.
“Coming again with a great quali tempo, it felt fairly collectively. Let’s have a look at if we will have that feeling within the race.”
On this article
Jake Boxall-Legge
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