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Mercedes will treat Monaco F1 update outcome “with a pinch of salt”

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Mercedes made sweeping changes to its aerodynamic and mechanical package, which were supposed to run at last weekend’s canceled Imola race.

Despite the “unique” challenge facing Monaco, the team decided to keep the new components on the car and learn as much about them as possible.

As such, Russell said Mercedes must stick to its vision of the new formula until next weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix to make a real assessment.

“We’re not going to really decipher the performance shown by the new update this weekend,” Russell said.

“There are always outliers between teams that do well at a track like Monaco and teams that don’t do well at Monaco. But at the end of the day, we design cars that don’t peak in Monaco.

“You look at some of the teams in the last 10 years, like Ferrari, they’ve been very strong here.

“So we just have to get through the weekend and do a review once we get to Barcelona and go from there.”

Russell conceded it could be advantageous to start the Monaco weekend with a familiar car, but insisted the potential performance gains outweighed any such concerns.

“I think you always have to go into a track like this with a certain level of respect and you need to be ready for it,” he said.

“But I believe in the team. And I don’t think there’s anything terrible going on about this new update, which completely throws us off-piste.

George Russell, Mercedes-AMG

George Russell, Mercedes-AMG

Photography: Simon Galloway/ motorsport pictures

“So as I said, we’re going to treat this weekend as a kind of one-of-a-kind weekend and then we’ll evaluate it again in Barcelona. But I can’t imagine what’s necessarily going to hold us back.

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“Honestly, I’m glad we went ahead with the update this weekend because you always want to improve the performance of the car as much as possible.

“It would have been a frustrating weekend for all of us if we knew we’d sat in the factory and achieved something.”

Russell stressed that the new kit produced positive results in the Brackley team’s simulator, although he hinted that if there is a clear benefit in terms of driver confidence, the actual benefits on track could be even greater.

“So far, our forays into the simulator have been positive,” he said.

“It’s both aero and mechanical. Aero is usually just talking about the overall downforce that every driver, every team is after.

“So it doesn’t necessarily guarantee lap times, but it certainly brings performance.

“Mechanically, once we get to the track, we’ll have to wait and see. There’s an argument that it might work better on the track than in the simulation because it will give us more confidence driving the car, and in the simulator, confidence doesn’t. Not really a limit.

“So it makes sense that there’s probably more to be gained on the track than what we see in the sim.

“As I said, we’ll just have to reassess next week. And it’s always challenging because while there’s a lot of talk around our updates, other teams will also be bringing updates, especially next week.

“So I can’t imagine a huge improvement in anyone’s performance because we’re all changing those goals.”

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Mercedes gets away with fine for Parc Ferme problem of Hamilton and Russell

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Mercedes has been fined for violating parc fermé rules after the Spanish GP. This imposes the same sanction on the German racing stables as it did after the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc all committing the same crime.

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Sainz understands Ferrari’s limits: 'Not very competitive around here'

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Despite Carlos Sainz’s solid qualifying performance at his home Grand Prix, starting from second, the Ferrari driver lacked the necessary race pace compared to Red Bull and Mercedes, resulting in him finishing second. Five finishers.

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Tsunoda slams “ridiculous” F1 Spanish GP penalty for Zhou defence

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On lap 56 of 66 in a round dominated by Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, Alfa Romeo driver Zhou used DRS to challenge Tsunoda for 9th on the outside entering Turn 1 right hand.

But as the corner transitioned into Turn 2, Chow appeared to shake his machine to the left, before rejoining the track several car lengths behind Kakuda into the escape lane.

The FIA ​​stewards reviewed the incident and ruled that Zhou was ahead at the apex of Turn 1 and therefore had the right to enter the race room.

As Tsunoda was found violating the International Sports Code, he received a 5-second penalty and dropped to 12th without points. Zhou, meanwhile, scored two points for ninth.

Asked by Autosport about his reaction, Tsunoda said: “It’s a ridiculous penalty and it feels really unfair.”

Recalling his take on events, Tsunoda thought Zhou had “pretended” to run out of space and that there was “definitely” room to keep the Alfa Romeo on track.

He said: “I left the room when I saw (Zhou Lai), I think he gave up early on.

“He went outside and pretended he was being forced out, but he didn’t. Sure enough, there was room outside.

“Obviously I put pressure on him, but there was still space, so I don’t understand why it was a penalty. It felt really unfair, really harsh.”

Yuki Tsunoda, Scuderia AlphaTauri in the paddock

Yuki Tsunoda, Scuderia AlphaTauri in the paddock

Photography: Jack Grant / motorsport pictures

Tsunoda said he was not aware of the penalty until it reached the finish line, and believes drivers and teams should be able to present their defense to the FIA ​​before the final ruling is given.

He said: “After I just heard the checkered flag, I was really happy. But after listening to that radio, I was really disappointed.

“At the same time, (I think) it’s a bit of a curiosity … it’s good to have some discussion with the FIA ​​because they gave five seconds without any discussion and the race was over.

“So, it didn’t feel fair … (I felt) exhausted and flat.”

In contrast, Zhou believes that this is a dunk penalty for Kakuda. He said: “It’s very simple.

“Going into Turn 1 and into the middle, I was in the lead and I actually gave a lot of space. Then I saw that he (and him) didn’t stop.

“(He tried to) release the brakes (but he) drove me away and I had to take avoidance action and (use) the escape route or we would collide.

“So, it was tricky after that because I had a lot of rubbish on my tyres. But in the end, I was able to stay in the right position behind him and regain the position.”

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