Antonelli seeks redemption
After the surprising British Grand Prix, Mercedes knows that even on a track where it is the clear favorite, it cannot afford to relax. It cannot because there is a Ferrari much more solid in terms of reliability and that is bringing continuous improvements to the SF-26. So in Brackley they have taken action: Kimi Antonelli confirmed what we anticipated, namely the arrival of a lower downforce package to be used between Spa, Baku, Monza, and Las Vegas.
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Mercedes’ main goal will be to minimize drag, thus ensuring greater speed and efficiency in sections where the car must rely mainly on the internal combustion engine after the electric boost is depleted. For Antonelli, this package represents an additional weapon to redeem himself after an unlucky period, in which he scored two zeros in the last three GPs.
Antonelli’s words
“We have a slightly lower downforce package, suitable for those tracks with long straights,” these are Antonelli’s words collected by our correspondent at Spa Carlo Platella. “We will see how it goes, last year we were among those with the lowest downforce on the wings and the result was not great: we will have to see if what we gain is not less than what we lose in the corners. We will see if and how the balance changes, from there we will evaluate whether to keep it or switch back to the wings we used until last weekend.”
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“It is a difficult track for energy, there are a couple of points where you do quite a bit of super clipping, but I think it is not worse than Silverstone. There everyone thought it would be a disaster, then it went better than we expected,” added the Bolognese on the fears of a less impressive Spa with this new generation of cars.
