Mercedes: 'Tough day thanks to red flags and Hamilton problem'

Mercedes' Friday didn't necessarily go as hoped. Especially the Friday afternoon was a disappointment for Mercedes. Despite the power unit failing during Hamilton's second free practice, the damage seems to have been limited.

The damage is mainly that no data could be collected by Hamilton, something Bottas was able to do. Andrew Shovlin says in a press release from Mercedes that it was certainly not an easy day.

"We had a difficult day with red flags costing us a lot of time in the first session and then Lewis had a problem with his car, so we had to stop on the track. Everyone suffered from a lack of time, so there's not much data to work with. Many had a run with low fuel that was compromised by traffic, so we should expect many teams to continue tomorrow."

Mercedes must improve in turns two and three

However, Shovlin also already knows where Mercedes are still leaving time. "We're struggling a bit with turn 2-3, we seem to be losing there on both low and high fuel, but we have a bit of time tonight to understand that. There are a few other places where we can improve the balance, but overall it doesn't seem too far off. We still have some recovering to do with Lewis, but there's time for that in the morning session."

On Saturday and Sunday we will see if they can improve their performance in this corner. This will then have to be mainly based on Bottas' data.