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Mercedes Technical Director James Allison praises Mick Schumacher and engineers for rescuing the Silver Arrows’ qualifying pace
The British Grand Prix saw Mercedes score their fifth podium of the 2023 season. The race was also Lewis Hamilton’s fourth time tasting champaign this year. However, the Silver Arrows’ weekend at Silverstone was not plain sailing.
Two Brits on the #BritishGP podium. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Y9VfJoZBX3
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) July 9, 2023
In free practice one, Hamilton and his teammate George Russell finished the session in P12 and P14, respectively. The pair didn’t fare much better in the second practice session, with Hamilton down in P15 and Russell only improving to P12.
But by the time qualifying came around on Saturday, the Mercedes was much improved. Russell qualified P6, with Hamilton right behind him. So, what changed?
According to James Allison, the Technical Director at Mercedes, Mick Schumacher played a crucial role in turning around the team’s fortunes. Talking in the Mercedes’ British Grand Prix debrief, Allison admitted while they “had seen on our Friday that we had a really good race car [for Sunday],” they “also knew on Friday that our one-lap pace was woeful.”
With Saturday qualifying on the horizon, Allison admitted Mercedes’ “challenge overnight was how to find pace in a car for qualifying.” This is where Schumacher comes in. Allison went on to detail how the team set to work on this challenge, revealing:
“And that’s what they set to do on Friday night in our simulator. The engineers and Mick Schumacher working late into the night until 2am trying to figure out how to get the best preparation of the car to be in good shape for a qualifying lap, for that single-push lap without changing the fundamental setup.”
He continued, “Brilliant overnight work from that team and the result being that our single lap qualifying-type pace lifted right back up to being in the mix for a decent grid slot on the Saturday which is what sets up our ability to have a good race on Sunday.”
What is next for Schumacher?
This hasn’t been the first time the German has received praise for his teamwork and dedication at Mercedes. Hamilton, Russell and the former F1 driver (and Mick Schumacher’s uncle) Ralf Schumacher were vocal about the young German’s part in the team’s double podium finish in Spain.
Since losing his seat at Haas, Schumacher has been vocal about getting back on the grid. But is there a seat for him?
If paddock rumours were to be believed, there might be. It would appear that the German’s most likely option is to replace Logan Sargeant at Williams. The historic team is currently seeing a resurgence in form at the hands of Alex Albon. So could this be an appealing prospect for Schumacher?
Feature Image Credit: @MercedesAMGF1 on Twitter