George finished P4 after eventful ending to European triple-header

·         George Russell finishes P4 after an eventful ending to today’s Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

·         Kimi Antonelli unfortunately had to retire from the race 11 laps from the end because of a Power Unit problem, which led to a loss of oil pressure.

·         Kimi’s retirement from the race brought out the Safety Car, after which, with six laps to go, George was able to chase Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen ahead.

·         George battled Verstappen in Turn One before the pair made contact at Turn 5. Verstappen was subsequently given a 10-second penalty.

·         Having gained the place on Verstappen, George pushed hard to chase down the Ferrari of Leclerc but ran out of laps, eventually finishing P4 on the road.

·         Kimi was running P7 and managing his tyres well before the Power Unit issue curtailed his race.

·         A two-stop strategy was selected for the race, starting with the Softs, before moving to the Medium and then back to the Softs.

·         In F3, Mercedes junior driver Noah Strømsted finished today’s Feature Race P8, scoring four points in the championship. 

George Russell
We finished where we started today and P4 was probably the best we could have done today. The last 10 laps saw plenty of action, but I am frustrated about my performance on lap one. I made a good start but dropped back from there and both Ferraris got ahead of me. I felt like Charles (Leclerc) was reachable today, but things got shuffled a bit with the Safety Car and, after contact with Verstappen, it was a bit too much of an ask to track him down.

Overall, we can come away from Barcelona pleased with some of the progress we have seen this weekend. Finishing P4 is quite consistent with where we have been racing since the beginning of the season, so it feels good to be back in that area pace wise after two difficult races. Unfortunately, we are still a long way from the leaders, but we are taking steps forward. We will be looking to continue making progress next time out in Canada. 

Kimi Antonelli

I am disappointed with how today’s race went. It was a tricky Grand Prix with the hot temperatures impacting the tyres. Even though we did a lot of long run work in FP1 and FP2 on Friday, it was still a struggle to look after them and keep a decent pace. However, I still felt good in the car. I had good pace on the Medium tyres and I was putting in consistent lap times. It was therefore a shame to end the day with a DNF.

Overall, it has been a difficult triple header for us. Now though we have some time to reset. I am really looking forward to heading to Montreal for my first Canadian Grand Prix. It is a different track and a different tarmac to here in Barcelona. We are also at the opposite end of the Pirelli range in terms of the compounds. We will take everything we have learned over the past three weeks, analyse and come back stronger in two weeks’ time.

Toto Wolff, CEO & Team Principal

That was a difficult weekend for us overall. We typically struggle a lot in warmer conditions and tyre management is our main issue when the tarmac is as hot as it was like here in Barcelona. P4 for George is obviously not where we want to be racing but it is a better result than we thought was possible pre-race. Unfortunately, Kimi did not have the chance to score points due to his Power Unit failure.

We now have time to delve into all the data collected throughout the weekend and focus on unlocking the potential of the car. We know there are clear areas that we need to work on. We need to get on top of our tyre overheating challenges. Fortunately, there is still a long way to go in the season, and we’re determined and will keep working hard to make progress with the car.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

As expected, we faced a very hot track in Barcelona today and the tyre overheating challenge did not spare us. George could have been in the fight for the podium though; his pace looked good enough to close on the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in the last laps but with the tyres overheating, it was hard for him to get close enough to attempt a pass. With the unfortunate loss of positions on the opening lap, battling back to P3 was just too much of a stretch. 

Kimi meanwhile had a tough afternoon. He was suffering from some instability in the high-speed corners, which isn’t ideal in these hot conditions. His race pace was solid but there were a few points in the race where he had to drop into traffic, which cost overall time. Unfortunately, he lost oil pressure in his final stint and his car switched off at Turn 10. We don’t know the root cause of that issue yet; the Power Unit will be returned to Brixworth for investigation. It’s always disappointing to lose a car from the points with a reliability issue; we’ve not been strong enough in that area over the last three races so we will need to tackle that urgently.  

We’ve got some time now to regroup after what has been a challenging triple header, but we will be working hard to come back strong in Montreal.

Noah Strømsted, Mercedes Junior – FIA F3   

We ended the European triple header with some points scored in the Feature Race today. After dropping to P10 at the start, I was able to fight back to P8 and bring points home. Overall, it has been a tough weekend here in Barcelona. We had the DNF in the Sprint race yesterday and I’m not going to be satisfied with minor points in the Feature. That said, we are still P4 in the Drivers’ standings, and I am looking forward to being back on track at the Austrian Grand Prix.