Hamilton sees Mercedes coming up short: 'They are so fast on the straight'
09:48, 24 Oct 2022
12 Comments
Initially Lewis Hamilton was raving about the updates Mercedes brought to Austin, but after qualifying he sounded less positive. However, the race went better for the team again, which does not make passing judgement any easier for the Brit.
Therefore, after the United States Grand Prix, Hamilton cannot determine whether Mercedes' W13 has improved or not. "Honestly, it's really difficult to say whether or not. I'm sure the team will know whether we've taken a step forward compared to others," he said in the post-race press conference.
Hamilton doesn't know if Mercedes updates are working
According to Hamilton, one race is also not enough to determine the extent to which the updates are working. "It's difficult to say whether it's compared to these guys, but I'm sure it helped." Hamilton had clearly hoped for more with his team's update package but does feel that Mercedes has taken a step in the right direction.
Meanwhile, the 37-year-old Briton still marvels at the pace of the competition. "They've been so fast on the straight, I think, under DRS they're like 35km/h faster than us. If we're behind them, we're like, 22k faster, I think it is, with DRS on the back straight. So he came from a long, long way back." Hamilton said of the pace at which he saw Max Verstappen approach.
"But even without the DRS, I think they're still something like 8k up on us, so we've got a lot of time being lost on the straight, probably four tenths at least a lap. And so we've got some improvements to make for next year's car," the Mercedes driver concluded.
Read more about:
Today
Rumors
Popular on GPBlog
1
'Devastated' Hamilton reaches bitter conclusion for Ferrari
1109 times read
2
Will the teams have to prepare intermediates? Weather Report for the Imola GP
1006 times read
3
Sergio Perez makes surprise 'appearance' during qualifying at Imola!
958 times read
4
Marko reveals Tsunoda crash could have 'major implications' for Red Bull Racing
897 times read
All down to Lewis having bad mirrors. Desperation !!
Max has him in his pocket
He's right they have both lewis and Charles commented on how fast it is. No contest. It will hopefully be closer in 2023.
"They are so fast on the straight"
True. F1 events are just drag races with all circuits that comprise of a single straight section ?
Pathetic, egotistical tool.
Leclerc said the same thing while he was behind Perez, Is he also pathetic?
I just made the same point to someone else giving abuse instead of objectivity. People need to understand that you can make your house look good without having to take a dump on the neighbor's front lawn.
Is Lewis complaining or complimenting?
Nah, complaining.
Max can get that little extra out of any car....Last year Lewis got that extra from the MB car................So he thinks it's the same hahahahaha.........
Good, now Lewis and Mercedes know what it felt like since 2014
.... what it feels like for all the other teams, since 2014 you mean?
For himself, he is just too spoilt with driving such a car dominant car that now that he is driving one which is closer in performance to others around him, he is showing his genuine (lack of) defending and attacking skills.
Cant defend against the best driver in the field and at the same time cant overtake people like Gasly or Ocon in less powerful cars.
Nicely explained for the Redbull fans , that speed diffrence makes The RB18 absolutely dominant.
Ps. Like i have been saying
But lewis can beat one red bull on a regular basis
But he cant beat the Max Red Bull.
The 2 RBs are definitely NOT set up the same way. If they were, Jos Verstappen wouldn't have been unhappy that Max was not "helped" or that the car was built in a way that did not suit him, earlier in the season. All of a sudden, changes are made, and the car suits Max but not Checo.
I understand that there are a lot of LH and MV fans here, but people really need to start being objective. Lewis in current car can't beat Max in current car. Literally, no one is able to do so. Max has to make the most of it of course but that fantasy I see here that LH wins are due to car advantage only and no skill whilst MV wins are due to skill only and not the car (and vice versa) really should stop. Otherwise I could make the argument that Charles is a better driver than both of them based simply on my bias toward Ferrari... reliability issues to one side.