Does Mercedes fear Grand Prix in Austin: 'That's our worry'

For Lewis Hamilton, second place in the championship is within reach. Thirty points separate the seven-time world champion - who, according to Jolyon Palmer, is having a great season - from Sergio Perez, currently the number two in the title race. At the upcoming Grand Prix in Austin, USA, Hamilton will be hoping to nibble something off his deficit again. Obviously, it is not going to be obvious, Andrew Shovlin (technical director at Mercedes) realises.

In retrospect, Hamilton missed an excellent opportunity in Qatar during the final race. With his collision with teammate George Russell on the opening lap of the race, he failed to capitalise on what would later be another off-day by Perez. Just at a weekend from which, Shovlin says, Mercedes had high expectations. That is less true in advance of the US Grand Prix in Austin in just over a week.

Question marks for US Grand Prix

Shovlin, in a message from Mercedes itself, asks the question: "How are we going to go in Austin? Well, that's a very different track. It's an aggressive tarmac, and it's very easy to overheat the tyres, and probably our worry there is going to be the high-speed performance. That's where Red Bull and McLaren look particularly strong. It does have plenty of low-speed corners, and in Qatar, we were very good in the low-speed," said the technical director.

All season long, it has been difficult to predict which team will be number two after Red Bull Racing. One week, Ferrari stands out positively, while the next is McLaren or Mercedes. "It’s difficult to know exactly where we are going to stand out, but our goal is to go there and hopefully be fighting for a podium. We had a really good chance of getting both cars on the podium in Qatar but hopefully, we will be fighting for the podium in Austin," Shovlin concluded.