Mercedes` technical director James Allison admitted the team was “stung” by its low points total and reliability issues encountered during Formula 1`s recent triple-header of races.
Across the last three European events held in Italy, Monaco, and Spain, the Silver Arrows managed to score a mere 18 points. This figure was significantly less than their main competitors – McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull – and even fewer than the 20 points secured by Racing Bulls, who are currently sixth in the standings.
This poor run resulted in Mercedes losing second place in the Constructors` Championship to Ferrari, the first time they have been outside the top two this season.
Adding to their challenges, the team unusually suffered from car unreliability. At Imola, Kimi Antonelli retired due to a throttle damper problem. A power unit failure ended his race in Spain. George Russell`s Monaco weekend was compromised when a wiring loom issue in qualifying left him starting from a difficult 14th position on a circuit where grid position is crucial.
Heading into the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix, Allison mentioned that the team felt “a little reflective” during the short break between races.
Allison stated in Mercedes` latest race debrief video: “I guess from Barcelona, there were aspects of the way we approached the weekend, of the performance of the car in very hot track conditions that give us some optimism for the future.
“But we`re all pretty stung by the DNFs and having been through a triple header where we didn`t score at anything like the rate we did in the opening races of the year.
“So, hopefully, good looking forward, but I wouldn`t want to do those three races again like that.”
Reflecting further on the triple header, Allison drew a parallel with his favourite childhood novel, *The World According to Garp*.
He explained: “The main character in that book, Garp, he bought his first house on the basis that a light aircraft had crashed into it. He considered the house `pre-disastered`, and therefore nothing bad would happen to it in the future.
“So you could look at these triple headers, we`ve definitely been `pre-disastered` with out-of-the-blue DNFs on very mature components that we would never have expected a failure like that.
“So with a bit of luck, we`ll have better fortune in the future.
More seriously, Allison acknowledged issues with car setup in the first two races of the sequence.
“But more seriously, I think the more important thing of these three races were we got the first couple pretty wrong on the way that we set the car up.
“Asked too much of the rear axle, suffered badly as a consequence, and we approached Barcelona with something of a different mindset. And in a track which would have murdered our tyres if we`d gone at it like we did in Imola and Monaco, we actually were a bit more ourselves.
“And so looking forward and knowing that we can do more of that and lean deeper into that in the races ahead, I think that`s a good thing.”
Given their recent form, Allison is hopeful that the Montreal circuit, Gilles Villeneuve, might be favourable for the team.
Last year, George Russell secured pole position there and finished third in a chaotic, rain-affected race, contending for the win. Historically, Mercedes has performed well in qualifying in Canada, placing at least one car on the front two rows in the last 11 visits.
Asked if cooler temperatures might help, Allison replied: “Well, that may come towards us, of course, if it is cooler.
“But I think that more important than the absolute temperature is just the different nature of the challenge in Montreal. Big braking circuit, a circuit where it`s relatively harder to get the front and rear axle at the right temperature relative to one another.
“And it`s a track where we`ve tended to find our feet relatively well in the past. So I`m looking forward to it. We`ve got one or two new bits to take with us and we`ll see how we get on.”
Antonelli Faces Learning Curve
The triple-header was particularly frustrating for the 18-year-old rookie Kimi Antonelli, who failed to score any points.
While two of his races were ruined by car failures (throttle damper assembly and power unit) when he was running in potential point-scoring positions, he was never competitive in Monaco after crashing during the first qualifying session.
Allison commented: “Kimi`s young and full of all the optimism of youth, but I absolutely know that our failures in this period have taken a few chunks out of Kimi along the way.
“Two DNFs, one caused by a chassis problem, one caused by a PU problem in just three races. That`s a pretty tough pill to swallow.
Despite the setbacks, Allison believes Antonelli recognizes the need for personal improvement while gaining valuable experience.
“Leaving that aside, and Kimi looking in it himself, he will know that he`s got more to find.
“But in amongst that, there`s been a lot of very positive work with him and brilliant experience for him running on a very dynamic track like it was in Barcelona, with the track temperatures pushing up towards 50 degrees and managing soft tyres in those conditions.
“That is just putting experience into him at a very fast rate, and he was handling it pretty well.”
