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Mercedes‑Benz has further expanded its leading position as the most valuable luxury automobile brand in the world in the current “Best Global Brands 2023” ranking. After five years in a row at number eight, the star now shines as the seventh most important brand in the world. The renewed increase in brand value by nine percent underlines the company's consistent transformation into an iconic brand that impresses with its exceptional aesthetics, innovative technologies and integrated sustainability.

“The latest increase in our brand value is a first‑class achievement by the entire Mercedes‑Benz team, which makes us all very proud. The result is both a confirmation and an incentive for us: we are continuously building on our brand heritage to shape the future – with the goal of creating the most desirable cars in the world.”
Bettina Fetzer, Vice President Communications & Marketing Mercedes‑Benz AG

With the strategic realignment of the company in 2021, the brand’s core was also refined. From now on, the brand with the star stands for “Desire for Iconic Luxury”. The company thus combines two essential characteristics: Firstly, its strong roots as a luxury automobile manufacturer that has created numerous style-defining icons. And on the other hand, the pioneering spirit with which Mercedes‑Benz, as an innovation leader, drives forward the development of the automobile. Mercedes‑Benz is focusing more than ever on the radiance of the brand, which has a culture-shaping effect, and is carefully developed further while still honouring the brand's heritage. The goal is to shape the digital age by creating the most desirable vehicles and services in the world.
“Best Global Brands”: An indicator of the most valuable brands worldwide since 1999

The US brand consulting company Interbrand has been researching and analysing the most valuable brands in the world since 1999. The top 100 are included in the annual “Best Global Brands” study, which examines all candidates according to three criteria: “Financial performance of the brand's products or services”, “Role of the brand in the purchase decision process” and “Strength of the brand with regards to “Securing the company’s future earnings”. Interbrand was the first company to develop a brand evaluation method that was certified according to ISO 10668. The international standard set benchmarks for evaluation and meets the requirements for precise monetary brand classification.
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SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced a multi-year partnership with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team starting in 2024. As the Official Team Partner, SAP is teaming up with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team to accelerate operational efficiency and unlock new data insights to deliver performance gains. SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition, serves as the technology foundation for the team, enabling them to explore how artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud solutions from SAP can inform and predict decisions, optimize resources, and future-proof their IT infrastructure.

Efficiency is the cornerstone of success in Formula One. Therefore, mastering the cost cap challenge and optimizing the team’s complex supply chain are two areas of focus for this partnership. Formula One’s cost cap restricts how much teams can spend each season, with severe penalties if exceeded. The Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team plans to navigate this complex course by using SAP S/4HANA Finance to allocate, save, and use resources more efficiently. With SAP Business AI capabilities embedded, the team can forecast costs, predict the final budget needs, and optimize both the supply chain and stocked items accordingly. To run its state-of-the-art operation, the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team is looking forward to leveraging SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition for a secure, and future-proof cloud environment. The team can also take advantage of SAP Build and the SAP Business Technology Platform to implement a transparent, intelligent enterprise architecture - bringing together a single view of data and systems from various sources across the organization. Doing so can lead to shorter lead times for critical car components, ensuring a seamless flow of parts during race weekends.

“Formula One is one of the most technologically innovative sports in the world, where incremental gains yield significant results. Given the extreme conditions under which Formula One teams operate, motorsports provide a global platform to showcase skill and engineering excellence,” said Julia White, Chief Marketing and Solutions Officer and member of the Executive Board at SAP SE. “But beyond the race day performance, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes. SAP is proud to partner with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team to make sure its operations are as fine-tuned as its cars.”     

This partnership has the potential to create a new blueprint for the automotive industry. Formula One is where latest innovations for the automotive industry are invented and premiered. Together, SAP and the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team will deliver new innovations backed by Formula One insights, that will go on to serve and shape the businesses of other SAP customers.

“We are delighted to announce SAP as an Official Team Partner of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team,” CEO & Team Principal Toto Wolff said. “We have a shared heritage and commitment to innovation and improvement which will meaningfully contribute to our on-track performance. SAP is a global leader in its field, and we could not think of a better partner to help us improve our efficiencies in 2024 and beyond.”

Richard Sanders, Chief Commercial Officer of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, commented: "SAP has a long-standing history of brilliant partnerships with some of the best teams and leagues across elite level sport. We are proud to become the latest to join forces with one of the world’s leading companies. Their knowledge, expertise, and services will be vital in enabling greater efficiencies within the team."

About SAP

SAP’s strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent, sustainable enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: SAP customers generate 87% of total global commerce. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers’ businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want – without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 26 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people’s lives.
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Formula One / 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix - Saturday
« Last post by fasteddy on November 21, 2023, 01:30:55 PM »
Lewis Hamilton

It was a really challenging race. I started on the Hard tyre, which was tricky in the beginning. I had a big hit from Sainz into turn one and was then trying not to hit other cars ahead of me. I fell back several places. After that, I was focused on making my way back through the pack and I was feeling great. The tyres were feeling good, and the pace was strong. I went up the inside of Piastri and I am not sure exactly what happened. I felt a big hit from behind, but I think it was a racing incident. I didn’t have a puncture immediately and as I passed the pit entry, I felt the rear moving. I had to do a whole slow lap on it.

I was grateful that I was able to still come back from re-joining in last to score some points. There are strengths in our car but sometimes it’s hard to extract all the performance from it. That is what happened in Qualifying yesterday but I am pleased we were able to show our pace in the race. I am also grateful that the race was exciting. I wasn’t expecting the track to be so great but there was lots of racing and overtaking opportunities. For all those who were so negative about the weekend, I think Las Vegas proved them wrong.
George Russell

Today was on me; I simply didn’t see Verstappen. He was totally in the blind spot, and we made contact; it was completely my fault. We knew they were much quicker than us and I was happy to concede the position. I knew our fight wasn’t with Verstappen and tyre management was more important. It was a real shame as we were on course for a podium. It changed the dynamic of the race too with the Safety Car. It feels like we’ve thrown another one away today and I am really disappointed right now. It is the story of our season.

There are positives we can take into Abu Dhabi. We were in the fight for second on the road today, but we will have to put in a strong showing in the final race to claim P2 in the Constructors’ Championship.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

It’s frustrating to say but today was another example of a Grand Prix where we’ve had good pace and not got the result that pace has deserved. Once George was given the five-second time penalty, it was pretty much game over for him in terms of the podium. He definitely had the speed to challenge those at the front, maybe not Verstappen, but possibly Leclerc and Perez. It is what it is though. Lewis also had contact, twice in fact, with neither his fault. He was starting further back on the grid but as others around him showed, there was still a good result up for grabs. His pace was strong throughout, but those two incidents cost him today. We now need to refocus ahead of Abu Dhabi. It’s a tight battle in the Constructors’ Championship and we hope to be able to deliver a strong result there.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

There wasn't anything that went our way tonight. Sainz made contact with Lewis at the start which cost him a number of positions. We then had a puncture with Lewis after contact with Piastri and didn’t have enough time to react and box him before he went past the pits. Finally, George got a penalty after contact with Max. Overall, those three incidents contributed to a frustrating race for us this evening.

Our list of positives isn't a long one, but it was at least encouraging that the car had good pace. We weren't as good at controlling the graining on the Medium tyre as Ferrari, so we need to look into that.  However, the pace on the Hard tyre was strong so as bad as this race was, it wasn't anything like as painful as Brazil where we were just plain slow. It’s going to be an exciting battle with Ferrari for P2 in the Constructor's Championship in Abu Dhabi. We'll use the next few days to prepare for that. The points gap is small enough that it will, in all likelihood, come down to who scores the most next Sunday. Everything to play for!
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Formula One / 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix - Friday
« Last post by fasteddy on November 21, 2023, 01:27:11 PM »
George Russell

I’m very satisfied with Qualifying today. We were always up there in the top-four, but the Ferraris were a step ahead of everyone today. I think P4 maximised what we had, and we were close with Verstappen for P3. With the grid penalty for Sainz, I think third is a good place to be starting from.

The race itself is going to be very tricky. I am sure there will be a lot of graining for all teams in these cold conditions, but nobody knows exactly how it is going to play out. We may see multiple stops in tomorrow’s race but whoever manages to keep the tyres alive will be big beneficiaries. We had some difficult long runs and I think the Ferraris are quicker than us, not just on the single lap but in race pace. We will do our best to give Leclerc a fight though and hopefully the race will throw up a few surprises.
Lewis Hamilton

That wasn’t a great Qualifying session, but it is what it is. I really struggled for grip out there and we didn’t manage to get the tyres working throughout the whole session. It’s not ideal but it’s an issue I’ve been dealing with for a while. We saw a decent amount of track evolution. Not a crazy amount, but it was still enough to knock me out as I failed to improve on my final lap in Q2.

We’ve seen a lot of graining on the tyres up and down the field in practice, so it will be interesting to see if that continues in the Grand Prix. I think tyre management, how you bring the tyres in and how you progress in addition to where you push and don’t push will be key tomorrow. We made a few changes to the car ahead of FP3 and we’re hoping that they will help us in the race.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

Getting the tyres in the right window remains a little bit of a mystery. You can see the difference between getting it correct and not so correct with our two cars today. We saw it earlier on in FP3 and it’s very difficult to optimise for. Lewis didn’t have any more grip on his final lap. I think we are really talking about only a few degrees centigrade between having grip and not having grip. You can also see this with there being a few surprise eliminations in Q1. On the other side, the Ferraris both put in stunning laps and were deservedly quickest.

It will be absolutely vital to manage the tyres well in the race tomorrow, as we have seen plenty of graining throughout the field in practice. We will have to be patient in the early stages and take it from there. We expect Leclerc and Verstappen, who are starting ahead of George, to be very quick but we will see what we can do.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

Both drivers made a few changes to the car overnight and used the final practice to evaluate those. Whilst George was happier with his balance today, Lewis felt like he'd lost a bit of confidence in the car. We'd wound back on a few of those changes going into Qualifying, but the car wasn't working for Lewis and ultimately, he got bumped in Q2 by a small margin. George was having a happier time and put together three solid runs. We didn’t have an answer for Ferrari's single lap pace today and they were very strong. We still get to start third on the grid though which puts us in a good position to fight for a podium. There are a lot of unknowns going into the race, mainly around how the Hard tyre will warm up and how it will last on a long run. It's clear the Soft and the Medium will suffer graining at some point if used, so we will need to deploy careful management. The Hard should allow for a bit more pushing however and that should open the race up a bit.
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Formula One / 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix - Thursday
« Last post by fasteddy on November 21, 2023, 01:24:44 PM »
Lewis Hamilton

It’s an incredibly fast circuit and I had a lot of fun out there. I’m so glad we got to run again today. The circuit did a great job to fix the issue we saw in FP1, and we had an interesting FP2. The balance of the car wasn’t too bad and on similar tyres, I don’t feel that we’re too far off compared to our competitors. It looks like everyone is suffering from graining and we were running out of tyres; I think everyone was in a similar boat. That’s likely due to a combination of a new track surface and the temperature. We are also running a low downforce set-up, so you are sliding through a lot of the slow-speed corners, and some of the high-speed corners too. The rest of the weekend is going to be interesting, and I think Qualifying is going to be hugely important. Managing degradation is going to be key on Saturday night in the race too. Overall though, I had a blast out there, I feel great and I’m ready to go again later today.
George Russell

It was good to finally get going after quite a long day! It was great to take to the track properly in FP2 and it’s a very fast circuit. It’s some of the highest speeds of the year and racing at night is spectacular. It’s going to be an interesting weekend. The session was dominated by trying to get the tyres working, and then managing graining too. I think that could hinder everyone come Saturday night.

The track was evolving very quickly; the early laps were like driving on ice. However, as the dirt and the dust cleared you were learning, and your braking points were changing. That’s tricky, especially with a low downforce set-up, but I had good fun out there. Overall though, it’s all about pace. It was hard to get a true idea of where we are relative to others given we only took one new set of Soft tyres, where others took two. Ultimately, race pace will be key. I’m looking forward to getting some sleep now and coming back for FP3 later today!
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

It was good to get running again in FP2 and we were able to complete most of our programme. Ahead of the event, we'd identified warm-up and graining as being the most significant challenges that we would face. We ran through a few tests to today aimed at further understanding those issues. The track grip was evolving rapidly, which was helping the car balance come together through the session. We know we’ve got a few areas that we can look to improve in terms of that balance and long run pace too.

It's clearly a very tight field as is becoming the norm this year. Every little bit of performance we can find ahead of Qualifying is going to be useful. It's also good to have a bit of time now to pick through the data ahead of FP3 this evening. Overall, we've got off to a decent start and we'll hopefully be able to build on that as we go into Qualifying and the Grand Prix.
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WhatsApp becomes Official Messaging Partner of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team

WhatsApp and Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team are forming a multi-year partnership that will take fans into the heart of the action with the eight-time World Champions. With the privacy and security provided by WhatsApp, followers of the team will be given exclusive opportunities to engage with Mercedes-AMG F1 and access unique content.

WhatsApp is the world leading private messaging service that connects over two billion people globally. Mercedes-AMG F1 relies on WhatsApp as the go to messaging app to collaborate, champion one another, and maintain crucial real-time coordination during 23 races a year on multiple continents. For years, WhatsApp chats have been part of the culture of success of the Mercedes-AMG F1 team that enables fast and efficient decision making on and off the track.

In September, Mercedes-AMG F1 was an early adopter of the new WhatsApp Channels broadcast feature, to share with fans behind the scenes experiences, insights, and realities of preparing for race weekends and fighting for podiums. The new partnership was announced exclusively via the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team WhatsApp Channel earlier today.

WhatsApp and the Team have signed this new partnership on the eve of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. There will be plenty of fun surprises for fans both in Las Vegas and watching from home, with exclusive and bespoke content planned across the weekend.

Over the last two years WhatsApp has developed critically acclaimed both longform and bite sized content that reveals the role WhatsApp plays in the lives of athletes to connect them with loved ones far from home and provide a private space for the communication that matters most. Examples include Naija Odyssey a film with Giannis Antetokounmpo, and We Are Ayenda featuring the Afghan Youth Women’s National Football team.

Toto Wolff, CEO and Team Principal, Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, said: “WhatsApp plays a critical role in communications across everything we do at Mercedes-AMG F1. From coordinating our operations, sharing ideas, and supporting one another through the journey of each season, it brings the team closer together. It also helps accelerate the speed of communication and decision-making across the organisation. As two innovative and forward-thinking brands, I can’t think of a more natural partnership. We look forward to working with WhatsApp and bringing the breadth of our stories to life in innovative and original ways.”

Will Cathcart, Head of WhatsApp, said: “We’ve been amazed at how the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team relies on WhatsApp to keep the organization running. The leadership and values they have demonstrated to push motorsport forward for years has been inspiring. I’m proud we’ll work together to reveal how WhatsApp brings their team together and fans closer to the action.”

About WhatsApp

WhatsApp is the world’s leading communication service, providing over two billion people with private and secure texting and calling. WhatsApp is available for free on both iPhone and Android devices and excels at providing cross platform communication for groups on mobile or desktop. This year WhatsApp launched “Channels” a new way to receive private updates from people and organizations, which surpassed over 500 million users in its first two months. WhatsApp also provides businesses large and small with advanced tools for providing customer service and other business messaging needs.
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Formula One / 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix - Preview
« Last post by fasteddy on November 14, 2023, 04:39:47 PM »
Toto Talks Las Vegas

Brazil was probably our most difficult weekend of the season. After promising performances in the US and Mexico, we didn’t perform at our best in Brazil. We have been hard at work to identify the wrong turn we took with the set-up; we have done that. We understand our mistakes and can explain our performance loss to the field. That’s important as we look to secure P2 in the Constructors’ Championship.

In parallel, we have been preparing for the challenge of racing at a venue that is a complete unknown. We have prepared the best we can, using the limited information we have, and there are some unique characteristics we can anticipate. The schedule is offset compared to other races. We’ll be running at night, where ambient and track temperatures will likely be in the single digits. Plus, the track layout itself is unusual with many slow corners but long straights. It’s going to be a big challenge for us all and we’re looking forward to taking it on.

It will also be an immense effort off-track. We have an impressive guest hosting programme including our own three-storey Vegas Club next to Turn 4. Media interest will be through the roof and seeing the cars race down the Las Vegas Strip will be one of the most exciting moments of the season. The eyes of the sporting world will be on F1, and we look forward to putting on a spectacular show. It is going to be something truly special to witness.
Fact File: Las Vegas Grand Prix

    Formula One returns to Las Vegas for the first time in over 40 years this weekend.
    The sport’s previous visits to ‘Sin City’ took place in 1981 and 1982 under the moniker of the Caesars Palace Grand Prix.
    Each edition was that year’s season finale with the Williams of Alan Jones taking victory in 1981 and the Tyrrell of Michele Alboreto victorious in 1982.
    We return to a very different circuit; a 17-corner (11 to the left, six to the right), anti-clockwise 6.201 km high-speed blast through the most famous streets of Las Vegas including the Strip.
    The track is the second-longest on the 2023 calendar, only shorter than Spa-Francorchamps.
    That includes an over 1.9 km flat-out section from the exit of Turn 12 to the braking zone at Turn 14.
    Our initial simulations show that top speeds will be second only to the ‘Temple of Speed’ at Monza.
    These simulations also show that just over 78% of the total lap distance will be taken at full throttle.
    That will be the fourth highest of the season, only behind the Jeddah Street Circuit, the Bahrain International Circuit, and Monza.
    Owing to the slower corners though where the cars take longer to navigate, drivers will spend just over 66% of the lap at full throttle.
    That is the ninth highest amount of the 2023 season and compares closely to Silverstone.
    The set-up trade-off will be ensuring that top speeds are not compromised whilst the car retains good mechanical grip and downforce for the low-speed corners, such as Turns 1-4, Turns 7-9, Turn 12, and Turns 14-16.
    Our simulations also show that there will be five braking events, with three of these designated as heavy. These will occur at Turn 1, Turn 5, and Turn 14.
    Another challenge for the engineers and drivers will be the likely cold temperatures. At night in November, it is not unknown for temperatures to reach single-digit Celsius.
    The lowest record race temperature in F1 history was the 1978 Canadian Grand Prix where the mercury only reached 5ºC.
    For the first time since the 1985 South African Grand Prix, the sport will race on a Saturday.
    Saturday’s race will also be the latest starting Grand Prix in F1’s history. The first night race, the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, took place at 20:00 local time.
    This year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix will get underway at 22:00 local time, with qualifying taking place at midnight on the same day.
    That schedule means that those supporting in our Race Support Room at Brackley will be working at similar times as they do for the Japanese Grand Prix, reporting to work around 02:00 GMT.

Insight: Getting Ready for Las Vegas

“The Las Vegas race is a huge operation,” explains Victoria Johnson, Marketing Operations Director. That is true both on and off track for the team. It is one of the most anticipated events in the sport’s history and will present unique challenges.

“In terms of planning, it takes about a year to deliver a race such as Las Vegas,” Victoria continues. Grands Prix such as this, and Miami, “have given us new marketing opportunities and new audiences to tap into. The team have put a huge investment into both of these races.”

That includes a three-storey Mercedes hospitality offering overlooking the track called ‘Vegas Club’. It’s a massive logistical undertaking but one that will re-invent what is possible in terms of on-event guest hosting.

For the team focused on running the cars, Vegas will be just as challenging an operation. “The temperature is due to go down to four or five degrees Celsius overnight. That is very unusual for an F1 race,” explains Sporting Director Ron Meadows. Riccardo Musconi, Head of Trackside Performance, adds: “Another challenge is going to be the time zone. We are going to be working on a Suzuka schedule, so Japanese Grand Prix times but in the US. The people back at the factory will be turning up to work at 2am.”

There are other factors to consider too. “It is going to be a brand-new surface. We don’t know exactly what the aggregate type will be. Nobody will know until we turn up in Vegas and start driving around. I think this will be the key element of the weekend,” Riccardo continues.
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Formula One / 2023 São Paulo Grand Prix - Sunday
« Last post by fasteddy on November 14, 2023, 04:38:53 PM »
Lewis Hamilton

I feel like I drove a better race today than I did yesterday, in relation to how I was managing the tyres to the best of my ability. It’s difficult to say why we struggled so much this weekend. There are moments with this car when it works and others when it doesn’t. It’s very inconsistent throughout the lap and we need to figure that out. Today, we were slow on the straights but still sliding through the corners, so it was difficult. We will go away and look at things to find out what we should have done differently. It was a day to forget but hopefully there are lots of learnings from it too. I am also so proud of everyone in the team. They are still working as hard as they can and holding their heads up high. That’s what we have to continue to do and we will keep pushing to improve.
George Russell

We obviously got something very wrong this weekend. We’re not sure what that was yet but the pace just hasn’t been there. You clearly don’t go from a podium-worthy car to one that is one second off the front, so it’s been very strange. We thought yesterday may have been a one off, but it clearly wasn’t. We were sliding the tyres and I think the performance we showed was the maximum we had with the car the way it was. In the end, we were suffering from high oil temperatures in the Power Unit and that caused us to retire. That topped off what was a difficult day. We need to now get back to the factory, regroup, and work through what we did to get on top of it before the final two races of the season.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

Today was clearly a very poor performance. This car finished on the podium last week in Mexico so whatever we did to it here did not work. We are not usually at our strongest on sprint weekends, but that doesn’t explain how challenging this weekend was. Lewis survived out there to take P8 whilst George was forced to retire. I can only feel for them having to drive something so difficult today. The car is clearly on a knife-edge the whole time and we need to ensure we develop that out of the car for next year. We also need to push hard for the final two races of the season and recover. That is the most important thing now heading to two very different tracks in Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

We were very limited in what we could change on the car between the sprint and the Grand Prix today. Effectively, it's just the front wing angle and any electronic settings the driver can make from the cockpit. As such, we knew it would be difficult to make much of a step in performance, but we were always going to give it a go.

The starts were generally good. Unfortunately Lewis got past by Alonso into turn four on the second, but it was clear that we didn't have the pace to race them today. It was very much a case of hanging on from there. The drivers were having to manage tyres and deal with a lack of top speed. Towards the end we retired George as an issue on his cooling system was causing temperatures to slowly go out of control.

Clearly, we've got something very wrong with the setup. We've had the pace to fight for podiums in the recent races and today we were barely able to fight for points. We're obviously disappointed and we will work hard to understand and fix what we got wrong this weekend.
39
Formula One / 2023 São Paulo Grand Prix - Saturday
« Last post by fasteddy on November 14, 2023, 04:37:50 PM »
George Russell

I had a good first lap but after that, it was a struggle. We expected the tyre degradation to be less than it turned out to be. We certainly didn’t expect to be outright quickest, but we were surprised by the pace delta to those ahead. That all came down to the tyres. Sometimes we seem to be able to get them to work, other times we struggle. It’s a shame but we clearly got it wrong today where others didn’t. We need to rectify that for tomorrow.

The track will be a little bit cooler on Sunday which may swing things more into our favour. We will obviously learn things from today too and make some changes. It’s likely to be at least a two-stop race, but I’m not as optimistic heading into tomorrow’s Grand Prix as I was this morning.
Lewis Hamilton

That was not an enjoyable race. We made a good start and managed to gain a position on Sergio Perez. After that though, we really struggled with the balance. We had a lot of understeer, then snap oversteer, and I was fighting the car from very early on. By the closing stages, I had run out of grip on the tyres, and I can only assume that we got the setup wrong. We will need to find a way to make some changes for tomorrow. I suspect it will be a long afternoon if we aren’t able to make improvements. I will of course be fighting as hard as I can, and trying to manage the tyres a bit better than we were able to today.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

That was a difficult day. We pushed very hard at the beginning of the race, and we suffered from that in the later stages. The car was not balanced optimally, with the rear end not strong enough to live with the front. You’re having to drive the car on a knife’s edge but it’s almost impossible to do so. Both drivers were trying to hold on to the pace, but we didn’t give them a car to do that today. They were both subsequently sliding around a lot more than they would want and that killed the tyres. We need to go away this evening and work through what we can do to improve it for tomorrow. There are no easy fixes, but we will do everything that we can.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

That was not a good race for us today. We likely pushed a bit too hard early on and it took a few laps to realise that we simply didn't have the pace to race for a top three position. That hurt the tyres and caused us to suffer from high levels of tyre degradation in the closing stages.

We know that we’ve got what we've got in terms of the setup and that there are only a few tools to play with to make improvements. We therefore know that making a big step in performance for tomorrow is out of the question. However, there are a few things we can use to balance the car and there's clearly a bit to learn about how we use the tyres across the stint. It might be a little cooler tomorrow and that could help; not so much that the tyres will be in a drastically different operating window though. It's therefore imperative we can make progress overnight if we're to avoid another tough race on Sunday.
40
Formula One / 2023 São Paulo Grand Prix - Friday
« Last post by fasteddy on November 14, 2023, 04:37:07 PM »
Lewis Hamilton

P5 is never going to feel that great. I did the best I could though and hopefully we will have a better race on Sunday. The car was showing signs of decent performance, but we did seem to be a couple of tenths off the guys right at the very front. We made a few changes ahead of qualifying and it did seem to make the car a little nicer to drive. In general though, it wasn’t particularly fast. Having said that, the conditions and circumstances at the end of Q3 have maybe put us slightly further back than our true pace would have showed. It is difficult to say with any confidence though. Over the rest of the weekend, I think we’ve got a bit of a battle on our hands. Overheating with brakes and managing tyres will be important but if we can use our strategy to progress forward, then we will do that.
George Russell

The weather today was absolutely crazy! I’ve never seen it change so drastically as that during Q3. I was really disappointed with my final push lap. I was sliding around and had no grip. I didn’t see that much rain on my visor, but I was one second off and I wanted to pit for new tyres as I was confident that I would be last. We ended up P6 though which, whilst the lap was disappointing and frustrating, it’s not a bad place to start. The team did a great job, and the car has been performing well here. We also know race pace is more important than single lap pace here. We will still be aiming to get on the podium. Aston Martin have been quick today, and will start ahead of us, but I hope our long run pace is better than theirs. I expect there to be multiple pitstops during the race on Sunday, so it’s all to play for. Let’s see how we perform over the rest of the weekend.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

We had a useful FP1 with plenty of focus on the long run. That is very important here and the car seemed to be working well although as always, it's tough on the tyres here when the track is hot. Qualifying was tight but that's normal with how competitive the entire grid is these days. Even so, we'd managed to get both cars through to Q3 with two new sets of soft tyres still available for each. It looked like we were in the hunt for the top three spots.

For what turned out to be our final run, we left the garage early and queued at the end of the pitlane. It was clearly right to be at the front of the pack, but we'd lost too much tyre temperature whilst waiting for the green light. We therefore didn't have good grip opening the lap; that was particularly costly given that the circuit had started to get damp from the rain. It was frustrating to end up P5 and P6, but if we can get through the Aston Martins in the early stages of Sunday then we'll be in the fight for a podium. Before that though, we've got Saturday’s standalone sprint format to get on top of and there are some useful points available. We will be working hard to maximise that opportunity.
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