© Sam Bloxham for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
Mercedes says “the Chinese Grand Prix was very much a weekend of two halves” because they decided to make “a change to the set-up of W15”.
After the Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying, that saw Lewis Hamilton get eliminated in Q1, the Briton explained that he had made a set-up change after the Sprint Race, which did not turn out well.
Now, in their post-race recap, titled “A Story of Two Set-ups”, Mercedes went more in depth on what actually happened.
“Much like that old football adage, Saturday in Shanghai was somewhat of a rollercoaster,” the team wrote.
“From the highs of celebrating a P2 in the morning, to the frustration of Q1 elimination just hours later. Our two ‘halves’ were the periods either side of the Sprint race in the morning, and Grand Prix qualifying later in the afternoon.
“The half-time team talk had come in the form of a second perc fermé period, which allows teams to adjust their set-ups between the two sessions.
“Our tactic? A change to the set-up of W15, as we continued to experiment with what was possible around the Shanghai International circuit.”
Mercedes then explained both drivers made a set-up change between the Sprint Race and Qualifying.
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“In an effort to find more performance, both drivers made substantial set-up adjusts. To improve the car in low-speed corners, they went lower and stiffer.
“This is where we return to perfect decisions, with imperfect information. Any setup change to an F1 car requires time to adjust once on track.”
In the recap, the team quoted George’s statements after the race.
“The result is probably a fair one and we know we have work to do,” the Briton said.
“We had two very different setups on the car between Friday and Saturday morning, and the rest of the weekend.
“Hopefully that has provided us lots of things to build on, because we need to keep adding performance to the car to move up the grid,” George concluded.
They also quoted Lewis’ post-race radio transmission.
“We likely won’t make that set-up change again, Bono! That is my bad,” Lewis said.
Afterwards in the post-race debrief the Briton continued: “The car does seem to work in a small window, and I did think it [making the change] was the correct thing to do.”
The recap also quotes Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, who acknowledged the set-up issue.
“Sadly, [the set-up change] made today very difficult,” the Austrian said.
“We must make sure that we are not trying to find a silver bullet each weekend when it comes to how we run the car.
“We need to focus on getting the basics right, and maximising the package we have.
“Today, we didn’t have the car in the right window: we made too many extreme changes after the Sprint and that made the most important part of the weekend much more challenging.
“The gaps behind Red Bull are close, and small gains will make a big difference.
“We are hoping to bring some upgrades to Miami and it will be interesting to see how they perform,” Wolff concluded.
