Lewis hamilton mercedes

While Toto Wolff had said this year’s Mercedes will be thrown ‘in the bin’ for 2024, Lewis Hamilton has said there are plenty of positives to carry over. While this year’s W14 is not yet a race-winner, the car has proven a more adaptable and versatile competitor than last year’s W13, with both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finding it easier to join in the fight for podium finishes. Mercedes were in the battle for the win in Singapore last weekend, thanks to a canny strategy gamble during a Virtual Safety Car, but ultimately fell short of victory. Speaking after the race, team boss Toto Wolff had been firm in his assertion next year’s Mercedes will be from a blank sheet of paper. Toto Wolff: Mercedes have answer to questions With the 2024 car’s development now in full swing as focus has shifted away from ’23, Toto Wolff was asked about the fact Mercedes appear to be getting more and more on top of the W14 after introducing a big concept change at this year’s Monaco Grand … [Read more...] about Lewis Hamilton refutes Toto Wolff: We’re not throwing Mercedes W14 ‘in the bin’

Mercedes have denied they did not send any of their team members to celebrate with Lewis Hamilton after TV images appeared to show him at the podium alone. During the scenes of celebration in the immediate aftermath of the Singapore Grand Prix, a few TV viewers appeared to notice Hamilton was missing some of his colleagues. While he was congratulated by the Ferrari and McLaren team members, who were there to support Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris respectively, the Mercedes crew appeared to be absent from the celebrations. Mercedes deny not showing up to Lewis Hamilton celebrations Regardless of what the camera showed, Mercedes’ technical director James Allison has dispelled any notion the team did not go, saying they were there to support their driver. “I am going to have to disagree a little bit with the premise of the question,” Allison said. “Of course the team was there at the podium to celebrate with Lewis. “As many of the team as it was practical to get to the podium … [Read more...] about Mercedes hit back at speculation of Lewis Hamilton team podium no show

Lewis Hamilton said he felt a “lack of confidence” in the W14 after finishing 14th in the second practice session. The seven-time World Champion has looked at odds with the Mercedes car of late with the two parties seemingly going back and forth on what they want from the W15. But there are still seven races left to go this season and judging from the running of Friday, Hamilton could be in for a tough time this weekend. Lewis Hamilton urges team to rectify Friday errors The Brit finished P16 in the first session of the day before improving to 14th for FP2 but that will still be far away from what he would expect. Speaking after the second session, Hamilton said he felt “a lack of confidence” which contributed to his struggles. “It was a very challenging day for us out there,” Hamilton said. “I had a lack of confidence in the car and that contributed to our struggles. “It was difficult to find the right balance and we didn’t manage to get on top of it by the end of FP2. … [Read more...] about Lewis Hamilton reveals ‘lack of confidence’ in the Mercedes car

Lewis Hamilton complained of a lack of load at the rear of the Mercedes W14, a feature which he says must be changed, pointing to McLaren as proof of what following the Red Bull route can do. While Max Verstappen returned to being in a class of his own at the wheel of the Red Bull RB19 in Japanese Grand Prix qualifying, it was the McLaren MCL60 which established superiority in the ‘best of the rest’ battle over one lap. Oscar Piastri will start P2 and Lando Norris P3, ahead of the Ferraris and Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Perez, with Hamilton forced to settle for P7 on the grid alongside Mercedes team-mate George Russell. Lewis Hamilton calls on Mercedes for concept fix Hamilton ended Q3 a second off Verstappen’s pace at Suzuka and half a second down on Piastri as he shed light on where he feels Mercedes are going wrong, something which he says the team must fix if they want to progress back towards the title scene in 2024. “Yesterday was a bad day,” Hamilton told Sky F1 … [Read more...] about Lewis Hamilton urges Mercedes to fix ‘100% concept’ issue after Japan qualy struggles

Lewis Hamilton said he and George Russell will talk behind the scenes over their Suzuka battles as he declared beating Ferrari to P2 in the Constructors’ Championship as being “all that matters”. The Mercedes duo went to battle in the early stages of the Japanese Grand Prix, Russell launching a move on Hamilton into the final chicane, Hamilton fighting back at Turn 1 to stay ahead. A wide moment for Hamilton at the second of the Degner corners later in the race then opened the door for Russell once more, Hamilton getting his elbows out to stay ahead as Russell asked over team radio: “Who do we want to fight here? Each other or the others?” Lewis Hamilton will talk to George Russell about P2 goal As it turns out, Hamilton has an answer to that Russell question, as he said the only cause that they are working towards is securing P2 in the Constructors’ Championship for Mercedes, with battles between themselves irrelevant since neither are in the title fight. There were further … [Read more...] about Lewis Hamilton to hold ‘offline’ George Russell Suzuka talks with one goal remaining

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and George Russell weren’t giving each other an inch as the pair battled for position at Suzuka. The Mercedes duo provided some of the best racing entertainment of the Japanese Grand Prix, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton inseperable at points of the race as they took on differing strategies. In the early stages, Russell briefly managed to get ahead of Hamilton, only for the seven-time World Champion to swoop back past on the pit straight, while Russell found himself being pushed wide at Spoon corner shortly after. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell swap positions In the closing stages, with Russell having run a one-stop strategy to Hamilton’s two, the pair encountered each other again. With Russell leading Hamilton with five laps to go, and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz in hot pursuit, Russell was instructed to let Hamilton past – Russell pointing out that it could wait until the last lap, and they could attempt to use DRS as a defence tool against … [Read more...] about Mercedes aiming to ‘tidy up’ Lewis Hamilton and George Russell radio dispute

Lewis Hamilton said it was “tough” to see that Mercedes has no progress to show for their work, with the W14 bouncing and sliding at Suzuka just like its predecessor the W13 did. Hamilton had already expressed dissatisfaction with his W14 challenger after qualifying P7 at Suzuka, claiming it had a lack of load on the rear, which in his opinion, was “100 per cent concept” related. And while Hamilton was able to gain a couple of positions in the race, crossing the line P5, he was nonetheless 50 seconds behind Red Bull’s race winner Max Verstappen, and again had some critical words for his machinery. “Exhausted” Lewis Hamilton disappointed to see no progress The bouncing phenomenon known as porpoising was what held Mercedes back in the early stages of this regulatory era, with challengers switching to ground effect aerodynamics from 2022, though Hamilton claimed the bouncing had returned at Suzuka. And to see the team so far off Verstappen out front and 30 seconds behind P2 … [Read more...] about Frustrated Lewis Hamilton rues lack of Mercedes progress: ‘Exactly same as last year’

Former Mercedes reserve driver Sam Bird believes the tension between Lewis Hamilton and George Russell at the Japanese Grand Prix would have been more serious had a podium finish been on the line. With the Mercedes team-mates adopting different strategies, Hamilton and Russell provided some of the most thrilling racing at Suzuka on Sunday. Russell appeared to have passed Hamilton at the final chicane in the early stages of the race, before the latter immediately retook the position on the pit straight. Lewis Hamilton, George Russell battle easier to manage for Mercedes Russell later found himself being pushed wide by Hamilton at the high-speed Spoon Curve, with the pair reunited in the closing stages as they came under pressure from the charging Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. In fifth place and on a one-stop strategy, Russell urged the team to use Hamilton to protect him from Sainz, but Mercedes instructed Russell to move aside for his team-mate. Russell then lost sixth place to … [Read more...] about Former Mercedes driver delivers verdict on Lewis Hamilton, George Russell Suzuka tension

Mercedes faced a headache over how to handle George Russell and Lewis Hamilton’s battle at Suzuka, particularly with Carlos Sainz closing in. Hamilton and Russell had encountered each other on track early in the Japanese Grand Prix, with Russell managing to overtake his illustrious teammate through the chicane – only for Hamilton to steal the position back going down the pit straight moments later. A side-by-side moment into Spoon resulted in Hamilton pushing Russell wide onto the escape area, with both drivers losing time and prompting Russell to get on the radio to question whether they were battling each other or their rivals. Mercedes split the strategies for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell On Lap 16, Mercedes called Hamilton into the pits to take on the hard tyre, but kept Russell out on track for a further eight laps as they committed to a one-stop strategy. Conveniently, this had the effect of separating the drivers on track for the majority of the race. However, in … [Read more...] about Revealed: The hidden influence behind Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s Suzuka swap