Shovlin sees Mercedes pace in Brazil, but says balance still needs work

Mercedes had one of its better recent Fridays for pace in Brazil, but the car’s balance remained a work in progress, trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said.

FP1 showed contrasting strengths. Shovlin said Kimi Antonelli looked comfortable over a single lap but struggled more on the long run, while George Russell was strong on long runs but did not quite put a single lap together. Mercedes took the best elements from each setup into FP2.

Antonelli set the fastest FP2 time, 1:10.763, and Russell was fourth in 1:11.036. Shovlin said the second session ran smoothly and Mercedes appeared to have decent pace over both a single lap and longer runs.

Brake locking had been a recurring theme for Mercedes over the past few races, Shovlin said. The team also wanted a better compromise between rear grip in high-speed corners and the strong front end needed in slower sections; both drivers were still finding parts of the cars difficult. Shovlin said there was work to do overnight. If Mercedes could improve the balance and make the cars easier for the drivers to work with, he hoped it could take another step forward the next day.