Andrew Shovlin expects Mercedes to be a lot closer to Red Bull in terms of performance at the Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend.
Before last week’s race in Mexico City, a lot of people predicted a Red Bull dominance on show. The Milton-Keynes based team lived up to expectations, earning a double podium at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez. F1 fans are now anticipating another Red Bull masterclass at next week’s race in Interlagos.
Max Verstappen on the other, seems to disagree. After his win in Mexico, the Dutchman said that the track suited their car on all aspects. However, he expects the Silver Arrows to be much closer to them in Brazil.
“You may be able to beat us, but you can’t break us.” pic.twitter.com/4UUq97sscs
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) November 8, 2021
Mercedes’ trackside engineering director Shovlin agrees with the 24 year old.
“Yeah, there are reasons why we would expect it to be closer. “The thing is, what we like to spend our time doing is worrying about things that might go wrong and catch us out.” he said.
The remaining tracks suit Mercedes more, says Shovlin
The British engineering chief feels that his team are not holding any kind of disadvantage. He mentioned that just a few weeks ago, their car was absolutely dominant in both Russia and Turkey.
“It may well be it is closer but it is so unpredictable at the moment. You look at qualifying, and a single lap can be more variable than the race pace. “But we don’t need to go back far and we clearly had the race-dominant car through the weekend in Turkey, I think in Sochi as well.” he added.
“Within the remaining four circuits there will be those that suit us as well so we will keep trying everything we can to win the championships.”
Weather conditions to play a major role in Brazil
Shovlin thinks that weather will have a big role to play in Brazil.
He feels that overcast or wet conditions would suit his team more compared to Red Bull. On the other hand, sunny and warm conditions may give their rivals an upper hand.
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“You can have a 50-degree track one day and a washout the next. If it is a hot circuit, that is probably going to move it in their direction. A bit of cloud cover may well suit us.” said Shovlin.
“But making predictions over whether you are going to be fast or slow is quite meaningless, it is more about knowing the jobs you need to focus on and do a good job.”
Mercedes are currently just 1 point ahead of Red Bull in the Constructor’s standings. The Brazilian GP will be followed by races in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
