Andrew Shovlin summarized the weekend in Zandvoort.
The chief race engineer of Mercedes, Andrew Shovlin, summed up the weekend in Zandvoort, where the team earned 46 points – more than any of their rivals…
Andrew Shovlin: “When the virtual safety car (VSC) was announced on lap 55, both Ferrari drivers changed tires, so they had fresh tires for the restart. On lap 56, we had the opportunity to call Kimi into the pits and release him ahead of the two Ferraris, which would put him in a great position to finish ahead of them. George was in 4th place.
After the pit stop, Kimi ended up behind George. Why did we switch them? The thing is, we wanted to save George's time. On fresh tires, Kimi had enough grip to overtake him on track, but if we let them battle each other, George would lose time compared to Ferrari, meaning Ferrari would have more time to fight him.
In the end, George defended brilliantly and we saw him on the podium. He truly deserved this result. There was no guarantee he could stay ahead; several times it seemed Lewis was about to get through on the inside, but George did everything necessary to prevent that.
It was really impressive, and to be honest, he had a truly remarkable weekend: pole and victory in the sprint, a very confident qualifying, and a really smart race. It’s nice to see George back in the mix.
Fans are asking what happened to Kimi's pace in the third stint, and we are currently looking into that. Kimi said the balance was getting worse as the race went on. With each tire change, there was increasing oversteer, and we are trying to understand why that happened.
We didn’t change anything on the car. We didn’t adjust the aerodynamic balance, which could explain the situation. So we are analyzing the data very carefully, trying to figure it out and resolve the issue before the next race.
It’s clear that the battle for car efficiency is becoming increasingly intense. We are still waiting for our major update to arrive, and it will help us, but until then, we will have a tough time.
We really enjoyed the past weekend. Our car wasn’t the fastest, yet we scored more points than any other team. And we are looking forward to Monza.
We have challenges ahead. Kimi will receive a penalty for an engine change, but hopefully, we can extract the maximum from the car. We will fight and do everything possible to maintain our lead in both championships.”
Other articles
Yuki Tsunoda: I really missed the real fight.
The Racing Bull drivers did not earn points in Zandvoort...
Colapinto's sponsor criticizes the FIA following the penalties in the Netherlands.
Formula 1 | Franco Colapinto has once again become embroiled in controversy, following allegations from his primary sponsor that FIA stewards caused damage (...)
McLaren is awaiting clarification on the cancellation of Gasly's penalties.
On Tuesday in Paris, the appeal hearings of McLaren and Red Bull Racing regarding the penalties imposed on Pierre Gasly during the Monaco race, which were later revoked, began. Before the hearings started, McLaren's team principal Andrea Stella outlined two issues for which the team seeks clarification.
Polestar is still seeking clarification on why it faced a ban while Volvo did not: TDS
Polestar states that it is still looking into "the underlying basis" for the ban imposed by the U.S. government, although it does not intend to file an appeal.
In Monza, Ferrari cars will be painted in honor of Schumacher.
In recent years, the Ferrari team has developed a tradition of holding their home Grand Prix in Italy with cars featuring special liveries. This was the case in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. The race in Monza this year will be no exception.
Hamilton issues an apology following his criticism of Ferrari.
Formula 1 | Lewis Hamilton has expressed regret for his frustrated remarks made during radio and television broadcasts following the Dutch GP, where he was left feeling unsettled by Ferrari's management of team orders.
Andrew Shovlin summarized the weekend in Zandvoort.
The chief race engineer of Mercedes, Andrew Shovlin, summarized the weekend in Zandvoort, where the team earned 46 points – more than any of their competitors…