Mercedes were very close to clinching their maiden race win of the season in the Dutch GP. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell executed a well-planned strategy to perfection. However, fate had other ideas. Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri arguably aided Max Verstappen, who was a pit stop down to the Mercedes drivers.
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Yuki Tsunoda had a problem in his car. Despite assessing his car in the pit lane for more than 45 seconds, AlphaTauri sent him back on, only for him to retire his car a couple of corners later.
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Verstappen crossed the line ahead of everyone and crushed Mercedes’ dreams. The defeat was tough to digest for a lot of Mercedes fans, which resulted in an online attack on their rivals and competitors.
Red Bull’s principal strategy engineer Hannah Schmitz was one of the principal victims who fell prey to the vicious attack launched on Twitter. However, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was quick to come to her rescue.
Toto Wolff also had some strong words to share. Toto said, “Emotions were running high on social media after the last race, but hate speech and abuse directed at our team and our competitors have no place in F1.”
“We compete hard on the track but we always have respect for our rivals.”
Lewis Hamilton finished 4th in the Dutch GP whereas George Russell finished 2nd ahead of Charles Leclerc. It was Russell’s 6th podium of the season.
Mercedes chief offers hope to Lewis Hamilton and co. ahead of Singapore GP
After a tough race at Spa, Mercedes bounced back pretty well. George Russell bagged back-to-back podiums at Zandvoort and Monza, where Lewis Hamilton finished an impressive 5th after starting at the back of the grid. Moreover, there’s some more good news coming out of the Mercedes camp.
According to Mercedes technical director Mike Elliott, Mercedes stands a strong chance of breaking its deadlock and securing the first win of the calendar year.
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Speaking on Mercedes’ YouTube channel, Mike Elliott said, “I think when you look back at the learning we’ve gathered over the season, we expect Singapore to be a bit more like what we’ve seen in Budapest and Zandvoort.”
He added, “But in terms of the nature of the corners, we think it will be better for our car. So hopefully we’ll have a good result there.”
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Mercedes have 6 races to find a win for them this season. Singapore has historically been a strong track for Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton and co. will be hoping to end the season on a firm note and challenge Ferrari for the second spot in Constructors Championship.
Can the Silver Arrows win a race this season?
