Harsh words from the Mercedes team after Sprint Qualifying in Belgium

19:27, 25 Jul
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Sprint Qualifying was anything but favorable for Mercedes at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. Trackside Engineering Director, Andrew Shovlin, didn't mince his words after the first day of racing in the Ardennes.

"By anyone's standards, today was a disappointment. We opted to run the Hard compound for the majority of FP1 and, when we switched to the Medium tyre for a short run at the end of the session, both drivers were relatively happy with the car's performance. Whilst others had taken the Soft tyre, we looked to be within reach of our usual competitors." Concluded the Mercedes man.

Shovlin on Russell's and Antonelli's qualifying

Andrea Kimi Antonelli did not get past SQ1 just like former Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. There were two notable dropouts in the first part of the qualification.

“Unfortunately, Kimi's spin on his first lap of the session caused damage to the floor and diffuser. He got the car back on track and tried a second effort, but the damage was so bad he couldn't set a competitive time. George was running not too far behind Kimi as he spun and suffered some floor damage and gravel rash himself. That was likely a contributing factor in our disappointing performance in SQ2, although we will look to see if there is anything we could have done differently to extract more pace despite that.

What remains for the Mercedes team? The sprint race tomorrow, but scoring points will be a major challenge. "It will be challenging to score any meaningful points in tomorrow's Sprint so our focus is on ensuring we get the car into a good window for Qualifying and Sunday's Grand Prix."