"Everything went against us today": Mercedes pinpoints reasons behind disastrous Sprint race for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell

Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff claimed that "everything went against them" at the Sprint race on Saturday at the Brazilian GP after Lewis Hamilton and George Russell found themselves moving backward after a positive start.

The Mercedes pair started the race extremely well as both of them made a pretty good getaway from the line and were able to jump the Red Bull of Sergio Perez to move into P3 and P4, with Russell leading Hamilton.

George Russell did one better as he passed the pole starter Lando Norris as well on the opening lap to move himself up into second position behind Max Verstappen. They both, however, went backward and experienced tire degradation that compromised their race.

Speaking with Sky Sports after the race, the Mercedes team boss said:

"I think we pushed very hard at the beginning, the car was not balanced right, and then you put in some sliding and it just killed the tires. It’s what happened to George in Mexico.

"I think we had a little bit too weak of a rear end, and then obviously it’s balancing them on the knife’s edge.

"Trying to hold on to the pace was maybe something we needed to learn for tomorrow, but a bruising day. I don’t think that there is a magic screw you can turn and then everything is fixed. It was very hot, everything went against us today.

"We need to really scratch our heads hard over what we can do for tomorrow, and improve."

Mercedes F1 director analyzes their Sprint race on Saturday

Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin pointed out that there were not many changes that the team could make going into the main race on Sunday.

As per F1.com, Shovlin said:

"We know that we’ve got what we've got in terms of the setup and that there are only a few tools to play with to make improvements. We, therefore, know that making a big step in performance for tomorrow is out of the question.

"However, there are a few things we can use to balance the car and there's clearly a bit to learn about how we use the tyres across the stint."

It will be fascinating to see how Mercedes will approach the main race on Sunday, with Lewis Hamilton starting in the top 6 and George Russell behind him in P8. The German team would hope that through strategic calls and decisive passes on the track, they find themselves on the podium.