© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin says “there wasn’t any big opportunity” at the Dutch Grand Prix, that the team “let slip through our fingers”.
Although Mercedes attempted to beat Max Verstappen using different strategies, including two failed undercut attempts, Andrew Shovlin doesn’t think “there was a point where you’d say we could have won”.
“The opportunities are the normal ones like getting off the line,” Shovlin explained after the race.
“If that had been better, then it at least puts you in the driving seat. Looking at the stops, the problem was Lewis was having to push very hard to close up.
“We certainly seemed a little bit stronger on that Medium tyre and we could get that gap down a bit. We’ll go through it as we always do.
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“But I don’t think there was a point where you’d say we could have won. Also, when you look at the gaps and when we were at our closest, it was too far for us to really run to the finish.
“But you’ve got to remember that Max has an element of management in his running and he can let those gaps shrink when you’re not at risk and grow them when you are.
“We could see where he was pushing hard and I think in reality, there wasn’t any big opportunity that we let slip through our fingers.
“I think it goes back to arriving here in better shape with a setup that’s working well, completing the programme, getting all our homework done.
“And when we’ve checked all those boxes we’re normally in a position to challenge them properly for the win,” concluded the Briton.
