Lewis Hamilton Questions Performance of Mercedes Ahead of British Grand Prix

• F1

Formula 1 superstar Lewis Hamilton has raised concerns about the performance of his Mercedes car during Friday's practice session for the upcoming British Grand Prix. The British driver reported that his vehicle did not show improvement across different tyre compounds over a single lap, a strong indication, he believes, of underlying mechanical issues.

"A Tough Car to Drive"

Hamilton shared his thoughts after the practice, sounding less than satisfied with the current setup of his vehicle. "Car wise, we're battling the same thing most of the time—it's a tough car to drive," he confessed. "No matter what we do to set-up, it continues to be a tough car to drive." While several drivers frequently grapple with such challenges, Hamilton's comments, coming from a seven-time world champion, underscore the persistent difficulties faced even at the highest level of racing.

The British racer's concerns stem from an absence of any discernible improvement across varying tyre compounds in single-lap scenarios, leading him to conclude, "We're missing something." In the midst of these issues, Hamilton managed to find a silver lining.

"On the long run, it didn't seem to be too bad, so that's a positive at least," he said, hinting at a possible redeeming feature of his car's performance.

Midnight Oil in Mercedes’ Simulator

To address these concerns and improve the performance for the race, Mercedes plans to have their reserve driver, Mick Schumacher, work overnight on the simulator.

The goal is to identify and address the issues faced by Hamilton during his Friday run. Speaking about his discussion with fellow driver George Russell, Hamilton said, "Me and George were just talking and he's one way, he's over here with the set-up, I'm over here." The two drivers are considering changing their setups to match the other's, despite the potential risk of slower lap times.

"But we'll try and work on it tonight and Mick will do some work on the sim tonight. Hopefully we will come up with something for tomorrow," Hamilton concluded, looking forward to the outcomes of Schumacher's late-night troubleshooting session.