Mercedes forced into AWKWARD 'run of shame' at Canadian Grand Prix

Mercedes

Mercedes forced into AWKWARD 'run of shame' at Canadian Grand Prix

Both Mercedes cars had to be pushed back to the garage from the top of the pit lane in FP1

Jack Walker

Friday 16 June 2023 20:57 Updated: 21:05

Mercedes' 'run of shame' has continued at the start of the Canadian Grand Prix.

The Silver - or rather Black - Arrows have endured a sub-par start to 2023, which has been even more disappointing given their woes last year.

And now both drivers were left hanging during FP1.

Article continues under video

The Mercedes cars had to be pushed back to the garage from the top of the pit lane during a red flag period in free practice.

What happened?

Pierre Gasly's mechanical issues less than two minutes in brought the first free practice session of the weekend to a halt, and technical issues with the local CCTV infrastructure unexpectedly delayed the session's restart – with Mercedes taken by surprise.

Left stranded at the top of the pit lane, the Brits were wheeled back to the garage and must have been feeling rather sheepish.

As ever, Twitter was on hand to explain proceedings:

#CanadianGP 🇨🇦: Official note from the FIA:

🚨 “The session restart has been delayed due to issues with the local CCTV infrastructure around the circuit. The local organisers are working to resolve the issue and until that time we can’t restart for safety reasons.”
— deni (@fiagirly) June 16, 2023

Ted Kravitz's comments

As ever, Sky Sports are bringing UK viewers all the action from Montreal, and Ted Kravitz was on hand to weigh in with his opinion of events.

“Yes, it’s slightly embarrassing for Mercedes this isn’t it. I don’t know whether Ron Meadows, the sporting director there is some sort of mystic meg and had a restart time that none of the other teams had."

“Having dispatched both cars, obviously because the team’s sporting manager thought that the session was going to restart within a reasonable amount of time," Kravitz continued.

"It’s a slightly embarrassing run of shame for the mechanics to go and get Lewis Hamilton and George Russell and wheel them back.”

Social media reaction

Social media is often very quick to jump on any mistakes made by teams, not least ones made by once-serial winners, but the reaction was rather underwhelming, with Mercedes' official account explaining the situation.

Our W14s were waiting at the pit lane exit, but an issue at Race Control has delayed the session restarting. Was only communicated when the drivers got to the end of the pit lane but both cars have been pushed back to the garage.
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) June 16, 2023

However...

Add this to the compilation of Lewis shaking his head around in the cockpit 😂

pic.twitter.com/jiGv4kKvjW
— Mercedes-AMG F1 News ✇ (@MercedesNewsUK) June 16, 2023