Lewis Hamilton and George Russell almost turned Mercedes’ dream weekend into a complete disaster in Barcelona. In order to avoid similar incidents in the future, the Silver Arrows will be working on bringing about major changes in how things run in the team. Engineering director Andrew Shovlin insists that they will be sharpening their intra-team communication skills.
During qualifying in Barcelona ahead of the Spanish GP, Russell and Hamilton almost crashed into each other on the main straight. Russell, who was starting a flying lap was seemingly unaware about his seven-time world champion teammate starting one right behind him.
As both drivers crossed the line, neither of them wanted to take their foot off the gas. Consequently, when Hamilton tried to pass his teammate, Russell supposedly squeezed him out of the track, with the latter’s W14 touching the grass. Thankfully, he didn’t lose control of his car and managed to keep his team’s hopes alive. Shovlin and team principal Toto Wolff, however, don’t seem to want a repeat of this in the future.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s confusion was nearly disastrous
Had Hamilton and Russell crashed into each other, their hopes of finishing on the podium would have been diminished. Admittedly, Russell did start the race from P12 and still managed to finish third. Nevertheless, Mercedes narrowly avoided what could have been a disastrous outing for the team.
Toto Wolff went as far as describing the entire situation as “silly” whereas Shovlin rationally explained what went wrong. He wants to bring about changes in the way the team communicates with its drivers in order to avoid similar confusing situations in the future.
“Now that we are back here at the factory,” said Shovlin as quoted by Speedcafe. “We will sit down and look at how we need to change our communication to make sure that we don’t confuse the drivers by not giving them the whole picture.”
Mercedes aiming to continue their hot form into the Canadian GP
Mercedes brought an upgrade package to the Monaco GP, which saw the end of their infamous zero sidepod concept. However, the results of this upgrade weren’t visible to fans until the Spanish GP kicked off. Mercedes was clearly the second-best team on the grid behind Red Bull and comfortably secured a double podium finish behind winner Max Verstappen.
Heading into next weekend’s Canadian GP, the Brackley-based outfit is looking to continue their hot form. Hamilton and Russell’s performance in Barcelona took them above Aston Martin in the championship standings.
However, Aston Martin are also likely to introduce upgrades to their car in the next race in Montreal. This will keep Mercedes on their toes, as their progress will be determined by whether or not they can keep the Silverstone-squad at bay.
