Mercedes suffering from balance issues at Silverstone

  • Published on 31 Jul 2020 19:44
  • comments 7
  • By: Fergal Walsh

Mercedes ended Friday practice from the Silverstone Circuit with work to do, despite staying consistently towards the front of the timesheets.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas cited balance issues after the opening day of on-track action with the latter ending the second practice session in third place, one and a half tenth down on Lance Stroll.

Hamilton was fifth fastest in the afternoon and admits that his day of driving was “difficult’ due to the upset balance of the W11 car.

“It was quite a difficult day, to be honest,” Hamilton said. “I think it’s always windy here which is a good thing about this track, you got some wind in different directions, but it made it tricky today with the car.

“The balance is not as good as I would like. We’ll just work on it tonight and see if we can figure it out. It’s not a disaster but it’s definitely been a hard day of driving.

“The balance was not right, so I was just not feeling comfortable in general, but we went back out and I think the tyres weren’t as good as the first ones. That was the main reason.

“But we’ll work through it. We’ve got great engineers, that’s the great thing about this team is we continue to dive deep into the details and hopefully make some good changes overnight.”

Bottas mirrored Hamilton's comments but admits he had a stronger feeling in the cockpit in FP2 compared to the morning session. 

“I think the first session particularly was a bit more tricky balance-wise, so there’s obviously still work to do,” the Finn said.

“But in practice two, it was actually not a bad feeling. The gaps are quite small and normally we are able to make some good steps for qualifying. So, I’m not too worried really, because the overall feeling is quite good.”

With conditions at Silverstone hotter than normal, overheating was an issue for many of the drivers - however, Bottas says that it is nothing that has deeply worried him.

Racing Point and Red Bull they seem quite strong as well, but it’s going to be completely different conditions tomorrow, with a lot less track temperature and the wind is going to change direction quite a bit and that normally has quite a big effect on this track.

“For sure we had some overheating, but I don’t know. I’m just not too worried. We’re just going to focus on our things tonight, see how much we can squeeze more performance [out] and hopefully, it’s going to be enough.”

Manto02

Posts: 93

Usually when they have balance issues they manage to do pole position, first row, race from start to finish in 1 2, fastest lap and be the only two cars not lapped

  • 4
  • Jul 31 2020 - 21:37

Replies (7)

Login to reply
  • RogerF1

    Posts: 501

    As soon as they take the sand bags out of the side pods they’ll be ok on the day ;-)

    • + 0
    • Jul 31 2020 - 20:27
    • RogerF1

      Posts: 501

      On second thoughts, may be trying to strike ‘a balance’ between giving the other teams a glimmer of hope to keep them interested or just blowing them off the track day by day?

      • + 2
      • Jul 31 2020 - 20:30
    • I expect them to be comfortably ahead on quali tomorrow. I still have hope for a proper race on Sunday. At least for 2nd place down. Stroll seems handy right now, Red Bull is clearly up there. Hulkenberg could definitely challenge if he has enough time to get up to speed.

      Generally speaking the midfield is really tight as well, which should make for exciting racing

      • + 0
      • Aug 1 2020 - 00:46
  • Manto02

    Posts: 93

    Usually when they have balance issues they manage to do pole position, first row, race from start to finish in 1 2, fastest lap and be the only two cars not lapped

    • + 4
    • Jul 31 2020 - 21:37
    • Merc has more employees working on their F1 program than any other team. They have a bigger budget than any other team. They have the fastest racer on the pay role. They have the second best tech director on the duty. They had a v6 engine two/three generations ahead of competition before the start of 2014. Anyone HOPING for any other outcome than Merc decimating it’s competition is novice or a pathological optimist :)

      • + 0
      • Jul 31 2020 - 21:49
    • Snooky

      Posts: 121

      Pathological optimism over here! Just wish o e day they’d get it disastrously wrong and end up midfield during the race and qualifying.... can’t see it happening but hoping one day they do

      • + 0
      • Aug 1 2020 - 07:34
  • RogerF1

    Posts: 501

    Shock, horror they seem to have found their balance in P3.

    • + 0
    • Aug 1 2020 - 12:45

BE Grand Prix of Belgium

Local time 03:59

BEGrand Prix of Belgium

Local time 03:59

World Championship standings 2024

Show full world champion standings

Test calendar

See full test schedule

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
29 - Mar 2 2024
Bahrain
7 - Mar 9 2024
Saudi Arabia
22 - Mar 24 2024
Australia
5 - Apr 7 2024
Japan
19 - Apr 21 2024
China
3 - May 5 2024
United States of America
17 - May 19 2024
Italy
24 - May 26 2024
Monaco
7 - Jun 9 2024
Canada
21 - Jun 23 2024
Spain
28 - Jun 30 2024
Austria
5 - Jul 7 2024
United Kingdom
19 - Jul 21 2024
Hungary
26 - Jul 28 2024
Belgium
23 - Aug 25 2024
Netherlands
30 - Sep 1 2024
Italy
13 - Sep 15 2024
Azerbaijan
20 - Sep 22 2024
Singapore
18 - Oct 20 2024
United States of America
25 - Oct 27 2024
Mexico
1 - Nov 3 2024
Brazil
22 - Nov 24 2024
United States of America
29 - Dec 1 2024
Qatar
6 - Dec 8 2024
United Arab Emirates
-
United Arab Emirates
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
29 - Mar 2 2024
7 - Mar 9 2024
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
22 - Mar 24 2024
Australia Albert Park
5 - Apr 7 2024
19 - Apr 21 2024
3 - May 5 2024
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
17 - May 19 2024
24 - May 26 2024
Monaco Monte Carlo
7 - Jun 9 2024
21 - Jun 23 2024
28 - Jun 30 2024
Austria Red Bull Ring
5 - Jul 7 2024
United Kingdom Silverstone
19 - Jul 21 2024
Hungary Hungaroring
26 - Jul 28 2024
23 - Aug 25 2024
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
30 - Sep 1 2024
Italy Monza
13 - Sep 15 2024
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
20 - Sep 22 2024
18 - Oct 20 2024
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
25 - Oct 27 2024
1 - Nov 3 2024
Brazil Interlagos
22 - Nov 24 2024
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
29 - Dec 1 2024
6 - Dec 8 2024
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
-
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Driver profile

  • Team Sauber
  • Points 1,608
  • Podiums 61
  • Grand Prix 209
  • Country FI
  • Date of b. Aug 28 1989 (35)
  • Place of b. Nastola, FI
  • Weight 70 kg
  • Length 1.73 m
Show full profile

Team profile

Show full profile
show sidebar