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Mercedes technical director Mike Elliot said that the team's 1-2 finish at the Brazilian GP last week felt as big as any championship triumph.
The German team picked up their first win of the season in Brazil, with George Russell pipping Lewis Hamilton to the win, and looked strong throughout the weekend.
In Mercedes’ Sao Paulo Grand Prix debrief, Elliot said:
“First of all, I am massively proud of what the team have achieved. To go from where we were in Bahrain, where we were a long way off, to fighting for race wins like we are doing now and to come home with a one-two. I think, is incredible."
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He added:
"I think George drove magnificently, really controlled to win the race. For Lewis to come from eighth in the sprint race, to have the issue at the start of the race that he had with Max and to come through to second I think is another fantastic drive."
Elliot continued:
“I think when you’ve got a season like this in some ways that race win feels almost the same as the championship wins we’ve had in the past. I couldn’t be prouder of what the team have achieved and the amount of hard work that they have put in.”
The technical director also said that Mercedes were very lucky that Hamilton's crash with Max Verstappen was not too severe and the Briton could continue without much trouble. He said:
“I think we’ve got quite lucky really. I think with a collision like that you can do quite a lot of damage to the car. As it was, there was damage, but the damage wasn’t huge. In terms of the aerodynamic performance, it wasn’t something that was going to really upset Lewis’ performance."
He continued:
"I think the fact that he was able to drive through the field, get himself back up to P2 shows not only how good a driver Lewis is, but also that the car wasn’t hugely damaged.”
Mercedes aiming for another win at Abu Dhabi
Elliot knows that the layout at the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP does not look too favourable for Mercedes, but the team will try their best to secure another win. He said:
“On paper, it is probably a circuit that doesn’t suit us quite as well, but then I think if you look at the result that we’ve had this weekend, we are hoping for the best. Ferrari are 19 points ahead of us, and we’d love to beat them for that second place in the Championship. We’d also love to have another win in the bag. A win for Lewis would be fantastic. So, fingers crossed.”
Mercedes will hope to secure their second win of the season at Abu Dhabi this weekend and bridge the 19-point gap on second-placed Ferrari (524) in the championship.
