Lewis Hamilton was blunt in his evaluation of his Mercedes after an unusually disappointing race at the Brazilian Grand Prix, calling his car “all over the place” and describing the race as “one of the worst of the year.” The seven-time world champion finished a lowly 10th, salvaging only a point while his teammate Geroge Russell fought for a win at one point of the race.
The former Mclaren man has had a season of ups and downs, highlighted by a strong mid-year surge with two wins in three races, including a victory at his home British Grand Prix. However, Hamilton has faced challenges in maintaining form and has openly expressed discomfort with the car in recent races.
Heading into the latter stages of the ongoing season, Hamilton has outlined his ambitions with Mercedes before his move to Ferrari next year. When questioned about how he’s preparing for the season’s final triple-header, Hamilton said, “I just put my focus on something else. I’m not fighting for the championship. It doesn’t matter, really, where we finish in the championship. I don’t care if I finish ahead of George [Russell] or behind George. It doesn’t make any difference to me.”
“I just want to keep the car out the wall and try to score points if I can for the team, if I can finish, whatever. If they give me a car that doesn’t bounce off the track in the next few races, then hopefully we can get a better result. But I’m looking forward to Christmas.” he added.
Lewis Hamilton described his car in Brazil as the “worst” it has been all year…@NobleF1 looks at what's gone wrong ✍️https://t.co/K4di0lVb1k
— Autosport (@autosport) November 8, 2024
Due to the W15’s severe difficulties on the bumpy track, Mercedes has been compelled to increase the car’s ride height, inevitably compromising speed. On Friday, Russell openly addressed the team’s challenges with some pointed remarks.
“In 2022, in the porpoising era, without a doubt that was far more unpleasant, but because of the nature of those cars,” Russell said. “It was far harder to get close to the limit because you were jumping around every single corner, and you knew that it was going to bite you.”
Russell will be joined by Kimi Antonelli in the W16 next season while Hamilton will take Carlos Sainz’s seat in Scuderia Ferrari alongside Charles Leclerc.
The final triple header of the ongoing season takes us to Las Vegas followed by Qatar which will include a sprint race. The season will be rounded off at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
Mohd Faisal Hakak is a sports author from Kashmir. He likes to keep tabs on the sporting world with a keen interest in football, motorsports, NBA, and other marquee sports. He is a science graduate from Islamia College Srinagar.
