Mercedes reflect on a Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix they could have won

Russell did all he could up until the Grand Prix last weekend as he took pole in Qualifying ahead of Hamilton, who was second, with Kimi Antonelli third.

However, during the Grand Prix, Ferrari unleashed the race pace they showed in practice, and combining that with a three-stop strategy and some luck with the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) timing to take the win, Hamilton's first for the Scuderia.

It has to be pointed out that the VSC, while playing a factor, was not the reason behind Hamilton's victory as he crossed the line around 19s clear of Russell as Mercedes spent the race reacting to Ferrari's strategy decisions.

To make matters worse, Russel struggled for pace while Antonelli attacking him most of the race was not ideal for the Mercedes pitwall. Eventually the Italian passed his teammate but retired soon after with car issues.

“In theory that is a race we could have won," Lord said of the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix in a Mercedes video debrief. "We had really strong pace with George on the medium tyre in the opening stint, and Kimi was very strong on the hard tyres in stints two and three, where George was a bit less comfortable with the car.

“But we could only have won it if we’d have got everything right," he pointed out. "We lost race time with the two drivers fighting each other in that second stint, and then also in the third stint. Obviously with Kimi, ultimately we had a reliability failure that cost him any chance of finishing at all.

“It’s true to say Ferrari were a little bit fortunate with the VSC that put Lewis out on track ahead of our cars at that final pit stop. Had that not happened, then he’d have had to fight his way through the field.

“It doesn’t mean the result would have necessarily changed, but we could have put ourselves in a stronger position to claim that win," Lord lamented.

While Russell set the pace throughout the weekend in Barcelona, he struggled in the race, and Lord revealed the mistake that caused that.

He added: “It was great to see George, after a difficult run of results in the last few Grands Prix, back at his best, taking pole, fighting for the race win.

“[He was] doing that notwithstanding the fact that in our final pit stop, we actually incorrectly adjusted the front wing, owing to a problem with the adjuster gun.

"It meant he was driving with a very, very oversteery balance that certainly compromised his pace in the final stages.”

Hamilton's win came after Ferrari brought a major upgrade to their SF-26 in Barcelona, which clearly worked, and now Mercedes are wary of the challenge of the Maranello squad in the Formula 1 Championship.

Lord said: “Performance is changing from weekend to weekend as teams bring upgrade packages, and conditions and circuit requirements vary.

“This weekend in Barcelona, Ferrari brought a substantial update to their car, and they took a really clear step forward, both in one-lap pace, where Lewis was fighting for pole position, and then obviously in the race as well, where ultimately they took their first win of the season.

“We’ve said all along this year that notwithstanding our strong start to the season, it’s a development race, and we’re going to need to keep bringing performance each weekend—both in smaller and bigger update packages.

"If we want to continue to race at the front of the field," Lord concluded.