Mercedes
Antonelli made the better start of the two Mercedes cars, finding himself fourth in the early stages. Russell dropped to seventh though, behind Sainz and Alonso. The team pitted both cars together, Antonelli losing out to Sainz in the first round of pit stops, while Russell likewise was held up by pit lane traffic. From there, Antonelli looked on for fourth, absorbing plenty of pressure from a fresher shod Norris behind but he made one late mistake which allowed the McLaren to slip through. As for Russell, he had a quieter race but inherited a place when Hadjar retired late on.
George Russell, 6th
“I lost several positions on the opening lap unfortunately and that compromised my race. The inside of the track, where I was starting from, is lower grip and that hurt me in the first few corners. I got caught out at turn two as I lost the rear and then I dropped another position at our first stop as we had to wait for the fast lane to clear. We battled back where we could, but we saw on Saturday just how difficult it is to overtake here. We had to be patient and, whilst P6 is not a result we came into the day hoping for, we’ve put a few more points on our tally in the battle for P2 in the Constructors’ Championship.
“We are well positioned to claim that P2 next weekend in Abu Dhabi. It is only between us and Red Bull Racing now so hopefully we can get the job done. We won’t just be looking to play it safe though. We want to end the season, and this era in our sport, on a high so we will be aiming to get ourselves on the podium.”
Kimi Antonelli, 5th
“P5 is solid points today but we could have had much more. We were slightly unlucky at the first pitstop where we lost a position to the Williams of Carlos Sainz; we had a slower stop and had to hold as traffic passed us in the fast lane. That delayed us leaving the pit box and ultimately, that is what changed our race and denied us the chance to fight for the podium. We were stuck behind him for the rest of the afternoon, and it was impossible to attempt an overtake.
“I was pushing hard to stay ahead of Norris in the closing stages and unfortunately just pushed a little bit too hard. I got out of shape through turn nine and then had a massive snap of oversteer. I was lucky to save the car but sadly dropped the position to the McLaren. It was a frustrating and disappointing way to end what had been a good race up to that point. We will focus on Abu Dhabi now though and look to secure P2 in the Constructors’ with a strong performance to end my rookie season.”
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“We are frustrated with how our race played out today. It was a difficult evening where we could have brought home a podium at the very least, along with good points, but mistakes meant we didn’t take advantage of the situation.
“George had a tricky first lap, losing positions as he suffered from running on the lower grip side of the track. From there, the lap seven safety car meant we, along with almost the entire field, boxed and we were locked in strategically. It was the right call to box both cars but a slow stop with Kimi cost us a position to Sainz and that in turn held up George.
“It was almost impossible to follow closely and set up an overtake so we knew it would be a long race from there. Both drivers maintained pressure on those ahead though and were driving on the limit. We are fighting for P2 in the Constructors’ Championship and that is very important to us. Kimi was also pushing for his third podium in a row. Any view that he ‘let’ Norris past is hard to understand. It was a simple mistake and a frustrating one for both him and the team.
“We turn our attentions to Abu Dhabi and the final race of the season. We have a 33-point advantage over Red Bull so P2 is very much in our hands. We want to end the year and this era in F1 on a high and will be looking to do so in what is likely to be a spectacular championship-finale.”
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
“A really frustrating result for us today but we at least scored a decent number of points. We go into the last race 33 points ahead in P2 in the constructors’ championship and although we didn’t have much clear air to show it, the car has good pace.
“George lost a bit of ground on the start but that seemed to be the case for all cars on the inside row. He then ended up off line following a snap at turn 2, lost grip with dirt on the tyres and unfortunately dropped places to Sainz and Alonso. Kimi’s start was better and he was just settling into the stint behind Norris when the safety car came out at the exact lap that allowed the race to be completed with two 25-lap stints. As expected, almost all cars stopped; we ended up holding Kimi for slightly longer than necessary which cost him a place to Sainz and ultimately that is what cost him a shot at the podium. With George there was always going to be some loss from having to stack and that allowed Hadjar to also get in front. The rest of the race was fairly unspectacular. George gained a place to Hadjar when he had a puncture and also realised he could go a full second quicker once in clear air. Kimi lost a spot to Norris when he was pushing to stay ahead.
“Not the result we wanted but we will regroup over the next two days and hopefully finish the year strongly in Abu Dhabi.”
