Mercedes was far from their usual selves at the Azerbaijan GP this weekend. While the lack of pace initially ruined her training sessions and Valtteri Bottas’s weekend as a whole, Lewis Hamilton’s bad luck turned P2 or even a race win into a P15 finish. F1 CEO Ross Brawn believes he knows why the Silver Arrows were slow on Friday.
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In FP1, Lewis Hamilton managed only the seventh-fastest place of the session, while his team-mate Valtteri Bottas took 10th place in the time table. It went downhill like in the second session, Hamilton came in 10th and Bottas in 16th. It was an unusual sight as they are expected to be in the top 5 every weekend.
Brawn points out the reasons Mercedes was slow
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In his column, Brawn wrote: “It was unusual for Mercedes to come to a race with such an unusual car. It could be that they decided to take a different path after their difficulties in Monaco and that threw them so out of shape on Friday. “
Formula 1 F1 – Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Baku City Circuit, Baku, Azerbaijan – Charles Leclerc from Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes and Max Verstappen from Red Bull in action REUTERS / Anton Vaganov
“If I’d had problems with the tire temperatures like in Monaco, I would have tried to take a different direction. So your fights on Friday could have been a result of that, ”Brawn concluded.
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The Silver Arrows suffer another terrible weekend in Baku
The Brackley-based team wanted to redeem themselves after the Monaco GP. But even on the Azerbaijan weekend things didn’t go to their liking. Both Hamilton and Bottas failed to land in the top 10 and accumulate the points needed to regain the top position in both championships.
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When the race restarted, Hamilton was in second place behind the leader Sergio Perez. He attacked the Mexican at the first opportunity, but it didn’t work out. His brake failed, so he overtook Turn 1 and drove into the run-out area of the track. He dropped from second to 15th place while his Finnish teammate crossed the finish line in 12th place.
Formula 1 F1 – Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Baku City Circuit, Baku, Azerbaijan – June 5, 2021 Valtteri Bottas from Mercedes in action during the REUTERS / Anton Vaganov qualifying
The team went home empty-handed, but still retains second place in the constructors’ championship behind rival Red Bull. The Silver Arrows will learn from this mistake and try to make a stronger return to the seventh round of the season in France.
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