Mercedes has struggled with the brakes on the difficult Sao Paulo Grand Prix, the Brackley-based outfit’s trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has revealed.
Having jumped into the lead in the beginning, George Russell led the opening levels of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix earlier than getting unfortunate with a crimson flag interruption. The Briton made his pit cease earlier than the crimson flag which meant that he discovered himself down in P5 when the race was restarted.
Though he may overtake Lando Norris on the restart, he spent the closing stint of the 69-lap race behind the Alpine of Pierre Gasly, crossing the end line in P4.
Throughout the 69-lap race, Russell was heard reporting points with the brakes of his W15. Reflecting on the problem throughout his common post-race evaluation, Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin famous that the Brackley-based outfit will examine the issue at its base.
“We had points with the brakes, and George was speaking about this. He mentioned it felt just like the brake discs had warped. Carbon brake discs don’t warp.
“They’re usually fairly planar, and you don’t get these points. However you may get peculiar issues occurring on the floor meaning you’ve got increased friction in some areas.
“That may then create a vibration, and that vibration might be felt by the pedals. So, it could really feel just like the discs will not be spherical, however nearly at all times if you examine them, they’re.
“We’re not actually certain why that was the case, and that’s what we’re investigating now. These brake discs have come again to the manufacturing unit, so we are able to take a look at them.”
Shovlin estimated that the problem may have led to a lack of three tenths of a second per lap as Russell needed to be cautious beneath braking.
“Listening to different drivers’ feedback, we weren’t the one ones who have been scuffling with both brake vibration or grabbing and George felt that it was costing him two, perhaps even three tenths a lap, simply from that uncertainty of whether or not or not they’re going to lock or whether or not they’re going to vibrate going into the massive braking zones.”
The British engineer famous that Russell didn’t encounter any points in dry situations which could point out that the low temperatures throughout the race additionally contributed to the uncomfortable feeling with the brakes.
“One issue was they have been operating fairly chilly. This was within the moist situations.
“There are alternatives to vary the brake ducts, however as we have been into that race with none extended moist operating, we needed to estimate the place the temperatures could be.
“It might be that these very chilly temperatures on the carbon was inflicting a problem, so we’ll have a look at that. However within the dry, they have been completely superb. There’s a bit for us to analyze and perceive.”
F1
