Mercedes’ F1 Director Shovlin Reveals True Extent of Damage to Lewis Hamilton’s Car in Austria

Lewis Hamilton finished the Austrian Grand Prix in a disappointing fourth position. The Mercedes started the race P4 behind championship rival Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, and Sergio Perez. He was gaining momentum in the race as he passed Perez and Lando to go up to P2 but could not gain ground on Verstappen.

The British driver was struggling to match the lap times of the Red Bull ahead and was falling back. Until Mercedes advised him to let his teammate Valtteri Bottas go through to chase after Max.

Formula One F1 – Austrian Grand Prix – Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Styria, Austria – July 4, 2021, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton during the race REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

Lewis lost another position when McLaren‘s Norris passed him on -track to secure the final podium position. Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin has come out to provide insights on Hamilton’s struggles in the race.

WATCH STORY: Lewis Hamilton’s Biggest F1 Crashes

 How much did the damage affect? A lot: Shovlin on Hamilton’s performance

As reported by FormulaPassion.it, Shovlin mentioned that the damage limited the progress of Hamilton in the race. He also stated that the damage caused to the car meant Lewis was losing downforce throughout the race.

” How much did the damage affect? A lot.” said the Mercedes trackside engineering director on Hamilton’s sudden lack of performance.

Formula One F1 – Austrian Grand Prix – Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Styria, Austria – July 1, 2021, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton during the press conference FIA/Handout via REUTERS

” The damage was in a part of the rear that generates an enormous amount of performance. This is a very sensitive area. In that area, we measure the pressures and from those, we can derive the performance.

From these, we estimated that we had lost between 30 and 40 points of downforce. This translates into 6-7 tenths per second for each spin.” said Andrew Shovlin. (Translated by Google Translate)

Shovlin concluded by stating,” In addition, Hamilton had a lot of oversteer. The rear wheel swerved and warmed the tires more, causing them to degrade. ”

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British Grand Prix is a must-win race for Lewis Hamilton

At the end of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, Hamilton finds himself 32 points behind the championship leader Max Verstappen. He is more than a whole race victory away from catching up to Verstappen.

The British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone is paramount for Hamilton’s title bid. He needs to pull off a win to keep this title fight alive as Red Bull and Verstappen are not showing any signs of slowing down.

Can Hamilton win at Silverstone again? Comment below to let us know.

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