© Sebastian Kawka for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
By Carol M. Creasey
Mercedes has not been having an easy time so far this season, and unfortunately the bad times continued at the Japanese Grand Prix.
During first free practice track conditions were normal. George and Lewis set 4th and 5th fastest times respectively, and this did much to boost their confidence. But in Free Practice 2 it was raining hard and a mere handful of cars went out. Lewis wanted to test the track in these conditions, so he did a lap on the soft tyres, which put him 2nd, behind Piastri from McLaren. Russell and Verstappen did not go out at all.
Afterwards when interviewed, Lewis was very happy, and he said the car was the best that it’s been for 3 years. He also thanked his mechanics profusely for all the hard work that has gone into making the car more drivable. He said the car appears to be set up right, so he is hoping there will be no more changes before qualifying.
Qualifying was better for Lewis this time, indeed at the end of Q2 he was 3rd on the timesheets. Obviously at times like these, the fans feel uplifted, but in Q3 the times were so close to each other, and Lewis ended up in 7th and George in 9th. It was pointed out afterwards by Toto, that if Lewis had been just a tenth of a second quicker, he would have been lining up on the second row. Although the Red Bull car is far ahead, the teams of Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari are very close to one another in performance, with some tracks suiting certain cars more than others.
On race day, the fans, having seen Lewis with a much more confident demeanour in practice and qualifying, were full of hope that he could make progress up the grid from 7th. When the race started, there was a crash between Ricciardo and Albon, which also damaged the barriers, and the race was red flagged. Luckily both drivers were unhurt. It was some time before racing could be resumed, and in the meantime, Lewis took advantage of the free pit stop to put on hard tyres. Unfortunately, this did not work for him, as he then had oversteer, and the tyres degraded really quickly.
If you like SilverArrows.Net, consider supporting us by buying us a coffee!
Time wise, for Lewis and George the first stint was very slow, as they both suffered the same problem. Lewis was suffering more, and he volunteered to let George through so that the team would get more points. If he had not, it was unlikely that George would have been able to pass him safely, and then maybe neither of them would have been in the top 10 to collect points. This display of being a team player is surely a good example to some of the up-and-coming future champions, who sometimes forget, in the heat of battle, that they are racing for their team and not just for themselves.
Naturally there was huge disappointment from the fans that Lewis was now languishing down in 9th place, and George in a lowly 7th, which is the reverse of where they qualified, but the nature of the track at Suzuka was never going to favour Mercedes.
What has been noticeable among the Lewis and Mercedes fanbase is that a lot of people are bashing the team for not being able to provide good performance for the third year in a row. However, fans must keep the faith in Mercedes, they have a car with a completely new concept, and Lewis feels he is just getting to grips with it. They will be developing it during the year, and progress will be made. Lewis wants to end his time with Mercedes on a high, so the loyalty of his fans to him, and to his team that helped him win so many championships in the past, is needed now more than ever.
Be sure to follow Carol on X @eagertogo and visit her website www.carolmcreasey.com!
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of SilverArrows.Net.
If you would like to write a Guest Column for SilverArrows.Net check out the details here!
