Lewis Hamilton might solely end ninth on the Chinese language Grand Prix, with Mercedes team-mate George Russell sixth; Hamilton faces worst begin to F1 season; Mercedes haven’t received a race in over 18 months and face a protracted 2024 season
Mercedes has revealed it would deliver upgrades to the following F1 race in Miami after a disappointing Chinese language Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton bounced again to ninth on Sunday after a disastrous qualifying during which he was knocked out in Q1 and began 18th after making a mistake braking too late on the Flip 14 hairpin on his closing flying lap.
As he struggled to maneuver via the sector, Hamilton voiced his frustrations on the radio about his automobile's tempo. At one level, the seven-time world champion claimed he couldn't catch Alpine's Esteban Ocon for 13th and “the automobile is so gradual”.
“I believe given the place we put the automobiles, the drivers and the crew, it wasn't a superb place for right now. It's not ok total,” mentioned Mercedes crew boss Toto Wolff. Sky Sports activities F1.
“Lack of rhythm. Gotta dig deep. One thing developing for Miami that appears like a superb step, let's see the place that takes us.
“It's not an OK automobile. We are able to see what the errors are on the automobile. We needed to be a bit extra aggressive to see if there was something that totally different we wanted to do with that automobile and you may see that Lewis took it right now. he, that was maybe a step too far.
“The race automobile was not quick. You hear him [Hamilton] saying the automobile isn't turning and that's what we will see within the information. It wasn't the best factor to do.”
Hamilton: I didn't count on rather more
Hamilton is struggling his worst ever begin to an F1 season since his debut in 2007, with a seventh, two ninths and a retirement from 5 Grands Prix.
His Shanghai Dash weekend obtained off to a superb begin when he certified second for the Dash and completed in the identical place in Saturday's shortened race.
The 39-year-old completed the Grand Prix nearly a minute behind race winner Max Verstappen, although there have been two Security Automotive interventions.
“I'm grateful to get into the factors. I wasn't anticipating rather more this weekend,” Hamilton mentioned.
“Hopefully now we have a step ahead on the subsequent race. Till then, we'll return to the manufacturing facility subsequent week and attempt to place the automobile higher for Miami and have a greater weekend.”
Hamilton revealed he went a unique route with the automobile set-up in comparison with Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who completed sixth within the race.
Experimentation with the automobile has been a theme at Mercedes for the reason that present floor impact rules had been launched in 2022.
“I believe the automobile is a tough automobile to arrange and a tough automobile to drive. That's why you’ve gotten these oscillations in efficiency,” defined Wolff.
“The place Lewis' automobile was right now, it was removed from optimum and he was simply driving on a knife edge. That is the place we’re.”
Russell: Mercedes must preserve including efficiency to the automobile
Russell had the alternative weekend to Hamilton as he was eradicated within the second a part of dash qualifying and completed eighth.
He obtained forward of the Ferraris firstly of Sunday's Chinese language Grand Prix however couldn’t maintain them again and needed to accept sixth place.
“This weekend we all know the place we fell. The final three races I used to be within the combat with Fernando [Alonso], [Oscar] Piatri as effectively and P6 is the place we are actually.
“It was an fascinating weekend, managing to have two totally different set-ups on the automobile between Friday and Sunday, so some data to go by.
“Finally, we have to dig into the info and proceed so as to add efficiency to the automobile. We simply should preserve working arduous to try to shut that hole to get extra into the combat with Ferrari and Lando and attempt to get the Purple Bulls down. .”
Swap the early alarms for prime-time night viewing as Method 1 makes the following of three visits to the US in 2024 with the Miami GP on Might Three-5. Steam each F1 race and extra with a NOW Sports activities Month subscription – No contract, cancel anytime
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