Mercedes expects tough battle: 'The race will be interesting'

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09:29, 09 May 2021

Mercedes set an excellent qualifying session on Saturday afternoon, with Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas setting the first and third fastest times respectively. Andrew Shovlin was happy with the performance of his team.

The Mercedes technical director saw that the weather conditions made it difficult to perform well as a team.

"The hot sunny conditions today made it quite difficult to get the tires to the final sector in good condition," Shovlin explained to Junaid. "It's really easy to overheat here and any little slide costs you with a build-up of temperature."

It even had an effect on the drivers' performance. For example, in the second run of Q3 it was almost impossible to set a faster time. "The track reached a peak. Every slip here costs you with the buildup of your tires. Because of such a moment Bottas also grabbed next to pole."

Challenge for Mercedes

Shovlin expects a tough battle for Mercedes in the race. "But we are looking forward to taken the front row, having both on the clean side of the grid is not too bad. The race will be interesting; we'll see in the first stint if we have the pace to break away but there are a few options for strategy on the table."

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	131
2	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	88
3	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	75
4	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	72
5	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	58
6	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	48
7	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	43
8	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	20
9	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	18
10	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	16
11	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	15
12	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	14
13	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	6
14	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	5
15	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	2
16	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	1
17	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	1
18	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	0
19	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
20	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	0
21	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0
22	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	0

Mercedes expects tough battle: 'The race will be interesting'

Challenge for Mercedes

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