Lewis Hamilton admitted that Mercedes failed to improve their car in the first five races of the season after he finished sixth at the Miami Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion has admitted that he will not move forward with a car that his team leader Toto Wolf has admitted is out of step and a handful of driving and understanding as they consider abandoning the design concept next year.
Max Verstappen won the Red Bull race after overtaking Charles Leclerc for the lead in the ninth lap and then giving a controlled and dominant move to the flag. It was a perfect demonstration of the Dutchman, as Ferrari simply could not keep up. He thus closed 19 points behind Leclerc in the championship.
Mercedes had brought their first big improvements of the season to Miami and hoped to at least take the necessary steps to get more out of their car, which still suffers from forced pollution on the right, which prevents them from unlocking its potential after five races. Hamilton enjoyed an improved performance in qualifying – finishing sixth – and he and teammate George Russell finished sixth and fifth respectively in the race.
However, they remain almost a second away from the leaders and hope for improvement was not found in Miami.
“Unfortunately, we are at the same speed as we were in the first race,” said Hamilton. “We haven’t improved in these five races, but I hope we have to keep trying and working hard.”
The British driver, accustomed to fighting ahead for victories and the title, was in a completely different battle this season. At best, his car is the third fastest, but Hamilton often found himself in midfield battles, which he rarely had to endure throughout his career. A challenge he takes on his chin as he has a long season ahead of 18 more races.
“It’s still racing, just a different point of view, a different point of view,” he said. “You want to try and move on, but it’s hard when you’re not moving forward. It is, but it is an experience for sure. ”
Mercedes believes that this year’s car still has the potential to be good and that if they solve their problems, it could be very fast, although Hamilton has already written off his chances for the title. In Miami, their task was outlined again, revealing its unpredictable nature. Russell was the fastest in the second practice, but then said he did not feel confident in the same car during qualifying, finishing only in 12th place. Wolff admitted that even after five races, mastering the car remains a dark art and one that he describes in a clearly disappointed way.
Lewis Hamilton’s car still suffers from violent guinea pigs, which prevented Mercedes from unlocking its potential. Photo: Eleanor Hoad / Shutterstock
“There’s potential in the car and it’s fast, but we just don’t understand how to unlock the potential.” he said. “This is a car that is extremely difficult to drive, dive into and out of the performance window – more outside than inside – and dissecting data with a scalpel is a painful process.
“Data sometimes doesn’t show what drivers are telling us and they suddenly have their hands full with a car that’s not nice, comfortable or predictable to drive.”
With the new rules introduced this year, the teams introduced a variety of different concepts across the network, and some, such as leaders Ferrari and Red Bull, successfully solved the problem of generating with their models. With decisions on how to design cars for next year to be made in the near future, Mercedes is approaching the final time on how to choose to move forward in 2023. In Miami, Wolf identified the next round in Barcelona as a key moment.
“We have remained committed to the current concept, we are true to the current concept, we are not looking at the lady next door to see if we like it more,” he said. “Before we decide to move to another concept, we need to understand where this one went wrong. What is good and what is bad. I would like an answer after Barcelona, and then we have to look in the mirror and ask, ‘Are we wrong or not?’
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