“Andrew Shovlin told how the departure of Lewis Hamilton affected the development of the car”, — write: sport.ua
Hamilton and Mercedes have formed the most successful partnership in F1 history, winning six driver’s titles and eight Constructors’ Cups between 2014 and 2021.
However, at the end of 2024, the Briton chose to switch to Ferrari, which in 2025 turned out to be unsuccessful: Hamilton did not manage to climb the podium of any Grand Prix.
The place of the 40-year-old champion was taken by Kimi Antonelli, who showed significant progress next to the experienced George Russell.
With his departure, Hamilton left the role of team leader to Russell. This allowed Antonelli to adapt to F1 without the pressure of being responsible for feedback on the car, although Shovlin stressed that his communication about the car was at a high level.
“To be honest, George is fine. The main thing is that we do not develop the car solely on the basis of what the pilot says,” said Shovlin.
“Most of the work comes from simulations: we’re looking for downforce, car balance, reducing aerodynamic drag and adjusting the suspension to get the car into the best aerodynamic window.
“So most of the decisions are not based on the pilot saying, ‘I need this,’ and we rush to find a solution. But it’s very helpful to have a stable pilot like George. He knows these cars within this regulation, so we never worried about losing course in the development of the car.”
“Kimi also describes the behavior of the car very well, so there were no problems in that regard. The main thing is that we had a phenomenal cooperation with Lewis and a lot of success, and then he decided to try a new challenge at Ferrari.”
“We’ve always looked at Kimi as the future of the team and a training year was inevitable. We totally embraced it and overall I think it went well.”
