Top executive at Mercedes happy: "Initial results look interesting"

Andrew Shovlin is happy with what he was presented with during the first day in Miami. The Mercedes top man saw George Russell and Lewis Hamilton looking good in the two free practice sessions. Thanks to the new front and rear wing and improved 'beam wing', the gap to Red Bull Racing and Ferrari seems to have shrunk.

Russell managed to set the fastest time in the second free practice. Over one lap, Mercedes thus seems very competitive and also in the longruns the difference was not very big: about four tenths had to give in on the average lap time of Sergio Perez on behalf of Red Bull.

Encouraging day Mercedes

"A busy, but encouraging day," states Shovlin in Mercedes' press release. The Brackley-based team saw its program, like all the other teams, go down a bit due to some red flags that interrupted the free practice sessions. "We managed to get through most of the work. We had a few aerodynamic updates to try here which we are still assessing but overall, we look to have made some progress."

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell drove with different setups on Friday. "In terms of set-up, we had some comparisons that we have been running throughout the day across the cars and initial results look interesting. We'll do a bit more analysis before deciding what we carry into tomorrow."

Warm temperatures Miami

So although Mercedes is talking about a positive first day in Miami, the racing stable knows all too well that there is still plenty of room for improvement during the third and final practice session for qualifying and the race. According to Shovlin, it's particularly about balance and making sure the rear tires don't overheat. "Those will be our main areas of focus to try and improve."