After another qualifying performance that once again failed to pass Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team’s lofty expectations in the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, Toto Wolff is left once again hoping that the W13’s race pace will push his team back into contention for a strong result at the Italian Grand Prix.
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton had seemingly closed the gap to the front runners come qualifying, as Russell was just seven-tenths off the time set by Max Verstappen in Qualifying One. As the likes of Oracle Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Ferrari found another gear come the later stages of qualifying, Mercedes were left behind as both Russell and Hamilton were more than a second off the time set by Charles Leclerc in Qualifying Three.
Mercedes finished qualifying in their usual place in the pecking order, as Hamilton originally qualified fifth fastest, while Russell was placed directly behind his Mercedes team-mate in sixth-place. Speaking after qualifying, Wolff was keen to praise Ferrari for their efforts at their home Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza.
“Overall, that session was probably a little worse than we had hoped for – not in terms of our final positions, which were probably our maximum today, but with respect to the gap to the front of the grid. We started the weekend well and haven’t been able to continue that momentum through the weekend – and on the flip side, Ferrari did an awesome job here in qualifying.“
A number of grid penalties will see a mixed-up order ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix, new engine components for Hamilton will see the seven-time World Champion drop all the way to the back row of the grid and will line-up for Sunday’s race in nineteenth-place. While Russell benefited from the mass of grid penalties and has been pushed forward to the front row of the grid and will start in second-place alongside Leclerc.
With contrasting starting positions for his drivers at the Italian Grand Prix, Wolff is expecting the W13 to once again deliver strong race pace to help steer his Mercedes team to a strong result at Monza.
“I guess the positive point is that George will start from P2 – even though he was complaining of poor grip from the tyres on his timed laps. Lewis obviously goes to the back row with his engine penalty, so we will need a strong recovery tomorrow if we hope to get to the points. We knew coming into this weekend that this wouldn’t be a great track for us, but I hope that we can continue our trend of better race pace than single lap and maximise our opportunities in the race.”
Andrew Shovlin: “Considering all the penalties across the grid we’ve ended up in the best position we realistically could”
While Wolff was left disappointed with the end result for Mercedes in qualifying, the team’s Trackside Engineering Director, Andrew Shovlin, has stated that with all the grid penalties taken into account, the Brackley-based team secured the best possible result.
Shovlin revealed that with Russell seemingly looking locked in for an eventual starting position of second-place, the team opted to run used tyres on the twenty-four-year-old’s second run in Qualifying Three to save a brand new set of soft tyres for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
“Considering all the penalties across the grid we’ve ended up in the best position we realistically could with George on the front row. We took a bit of a risk by saving a set of his new tyres on the final run in qualifying, we didn’t realise it would be quite that tight when we made the call but luckily his first run was good enough for P6 which means he inherits P2 for tomorrow and we still have a new set of softs available.”
As the W13 struggles with the low downforce conditions on offer at the Monza Circuit this weekend, Shovlin believes that while the team has struggled with the set-up of the car this weekend, an impressive showing in Free Practice Two could offer a positive in regard to the team’s race pace for Sunday’s race.
“The car has been a bit of a handful this weekend, more reminiscent of Spa than of Zandvoort, but our long runs this morning were stronger than in FP2 and we have a bit better handle on where to position the balance for the race.”
As the European leg of the 2022 Formula 1 season comes to a close this weekend, Shovlin believes that the team can end the European stint of the season on a high with a potential Russell podium in Monza and is also hopeful that Hamilton will be able to pick his way through the field from the back of the grid to a potential points finish.
“It’s difficult to know what to expect tomorrow; so many cars are out of position, and this is a race that rarely passes without incidents. Hopefully with George we’ve got the pace to stay up front and with Lewis it is a recovery race which will depend on how easily we can overtake the slower cars and how well we can manage the tyres compared to our competitors.”
