Photo: Race Pictures

Mercedes break down rollercoaster results despite Brazil GP podium

11:31, 10 Nov

byTobia Elia

Mercedes appear to have finally found the right direction performance-wise as the season draws to a close.

“At all the tracks where we were meant to be good this year, we weren’t so good, and on the tracks where we weren’t expected to be good, we were good”

- Kimi Antonelli

In recent races, the Brackley-based team have racked up a solid haul of points, taking advantage of Ferrari’s struggles — including their double DNF in Brazil — to pull clear in the Constructors’ standings and tighten their grip on second place.

With three rounds to go, Mercedes sit firmly in the runner-up spot, while the Maranello outfit trail 32 points behind.

Of the two drivers, it was Antonelli who benefited most from Mercedes’ return to the older suspension — a setup that had been scrapped in recent months after leaving the W16 stuck in a performance limbo that was proving increasingly hard to escape.

That said, the Brackley car is known to perform at its best on cooler circuits, although Russell’s dominant weekend in Singapore showed just how far the team have come with the car across the board.

Photo: Race Pictures

“The funny thing is, at all the tracks where we were meant to be good this year, we weren’t so good, and on the tracks where we weren’t expected to be good, we were good, so it’s unexpected.” Antonelli said after claiming P2 in qualifying on Saturday.

Similarly, Antonelli looked particularly competitive on circuits he’d never raced before and had no reference data from the junior categories — something that allowed him to approach those weekends with a completely open mindset.

Can Mercedes excel in Las Vegas too?

Mercedes head to Las Vegas with genuine hopes of victory, buoyed by last year’s dominant win — a weekend where the biting cold allowed Russell to extract the car’s full potential in low-grip conditions.

“There are some weekends where the VCARB or the Haas are extremely quick, so you never know. But of course, in Vegas, with the cold temperatures, it should definitely help the car.

“We’ve also seen this year that the car usually behaves better in cold conditions than in hot ones. Hopefully, we can have the same pace in Vegas. As a team, we’ll definitely try to do everything we did last year to give ourselves a better chance of achieving that same level of performance somehow.”

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