Mercedes surprised by Red Bull: 'Why not use that wing?'

Where everyone had put the favourites on Red Bull Racing for the Hungarian Grand Prix, in the end it was Mercedes with the fastest car. That was also a surprise for the German team itself, Andrew Shovlin reveals.

"We thought this is a circuit that should suit them [Red Bull]," Shovlin acknowledges in conversation with Autosport. According to the Mercedes engineer, there were concerns at the German team ahead of Hungary. "The other thing that always worries us when we come to a max downforce circuit is that we’re frequently running around on our max downforce wing and then they bring it out for the Monacos and for this place."

According to the engineer, Red Bull has a special wing, designed for circuit where you need a lot of downforce. "But maybe they couldn’t balance that. They went away from it on Saturday and for us it seems odd that you would ever run anything other than your biggest rear wing here."

"But maybe they couldn’t balance that. They went away from it on Saturday and for us it seems odd that you would ever run anything other than your biggest rear wing here" An advantage for Mercedes, as it meant they were the fastest in Hungary. "To be honest, we’re surprised by it ourselves. I mean it's a pleasant surprise, but we were surprised to have had that margin to pole for instance," Shovlin concluded.