© LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd
Mercedes Chief Technical Officer James Allison says Red Bull had “a stronger weekend of development” than Mercedes, but he has faith in Lewis Hamilton‘s performance.
After the United States Grand Prix first free practice Mercedes seemed to be on its way to put in another dominant performance, however things started going downhill after that.
It all culminated with Lewis Hamilton qualifying in P2, behind Max Verstappen, while Valtteri Bottas qualified in P4.
After the session James Allison was asked if he thinks Red Bull improved throughout the weekend or if Mercedes’ form dipped.
“Probably a little bit of each,” Allison said.
“We were running, in qualifying, very similar set-ups to where we started in FP1, having migrated a bit in between time and then come back, so I think probably a bit more of Red Bull having a stronger weekend of development than we did.
“I guess we had reasonably high hopes after FP1. FP2 was a bit more of a struggle and it’s been a little bit that way since.
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“We’ve been up at the sharp end, but not really with the edge we’ve seen in some of the other recent races, so it’s not been easy.”
Considering Sergio Perez has qualified in P3, Hamilton is going to be in a Red Bull sandwich on race start tomorrow. Allison, however, believes Lewis will be able to handle the situation.
“The best protection will be if we’re swift. If we can gap the Red Bull behind, then we’ll get some strategic protection from that gap.
“But obviously two against one is definitely a better place to be. We will just have to rely on being swift. I’m guessing Lewis will know how to handle himself.
“He knows this track very well and he’s one of the better people at looking after their tyres,” concluded the Briton.
