Mercedes concerned about high temperatures in Hungary – Formula 1 news
Mercedes are a bit concerned about the hot weather in Hungary, which will not suit their car as compared to rivals Lotus, Red Bull and Ferrari.
According to the team’s executive director Toto Wolff, “First, we will need to do extra homework on Friday to understand how the new tyres work with our car. Then we will have to get to grips with the high temperatures, a demanding circuit and the soft and
medium compound Pirelli tyres.”
The German squad has normally been good on circuits with lower temperature, so they would have wanted rain to help them in Hungary. However, that does not seem to be the case, as dry weather has been forecast for the upcoming Grand Prix at the Hungaroring.
Despite that, Mercedes might manage to take their rivals by surprise, as they did in Bahrain this season. Although they were not expected to challenge the front runners, Nico Rosberg posted the fastest time of all during the qualifying session, which was
even a surprise for his team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who started from ninth on the grid after dropping five places because of an unscheduled gearbox change.
However, the latter of the two drivers managed the tyres well during race day and finished fifth overall, which was not a bad result, especially for a team that has encountered high degradation under high track temperatures.
On the other hand, the Brackley based outfit struggled more in Germany, where the 2012 spec tyres were brought back following safety concerns in the British GP.
Looking at that situation, Wolff stated, “During the race at the Nürburgring, we were overheating the tyres and we want to minimise the chance of suffering a repeat problem in Hungary where the track temperatures will also be high. The team has worked thoroughly
since Germany to improve the situation and we will find out how the new tyres will affect that situation, too.”
During the next race, the teams will be provided with new Pirelli rubber, which was tested in the Young Driver Test at Silverstone. However, Mercedes were banned from that session, so they might be at a disadvantage compared to their rival teams.
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