Andrew Shovlin, Chief Race Engineer with Mercedes AMG Motorsport, has said he is happy with the team’s points finish in Spielberg at the weekend, despite the problems they had to overcome as a result of the high temperatures.
It was good to see Honda get their first win since coming back into the sport; they have worked so hard for it, so hopefully they can enjoy the moment,” said Shovlin
Shovlin continued that the hot temperatures had a detrimental effect on their race pace, but acknowledged they had made the best of the situation.
“For us it was an incredibly tough afternoon, we were on the limit with cooling all race. We knew this was our Achilles heel and the combination of ambient temperature and altitude were just too much for us to fight today.
“Valtteri did a good job to get on the podium, he was having to manage a lot whilst racing today and we had to give up a lot of performance to keep things cool, so we’re happy that he got some reward.
“Lewis was in the same situation as Valtteri with temperatures and he was having to having to manage from start to finish.
“He was keeping his tyres in good shape but unfortunately his front wing flap broke on the kerb at turn 10 on lap 27 and we were losing too much time so stopped for a new nose and the Hard tyre.”
He added that he thought there may be underlying issues with the car, which were not helped by the temperatures, that needed to be looked into.
“It was a shame to lose the place to Vettel right on the end, but it was just a consequence of all the issues we were having to deal with. Whilst temperatures were the headline item for us today, we weren’t particularly quick even in Qualifying, so no doubt there are a few areas that we need to investigate and improve.”
He made it clear they have now put the difficulties of Spielberg behind them and are now focusing on the next race of the season.
“We’re looking forward to Silverstone, the car should work better there so hopefully we can get back to fighting at the front.”
