F1 News: Lewis Hamilton Annoyed - "W14 Is The Hardest Car I've Ever Driven"

Lewis Hamilton expressed challenges with the W14 after a tough qualifying session at Marina Bay, while also commenting on team dynamics and race prospects.

In a recent interview, Lewis Hamilton described the W14 as "the hardest car" he's yet to drive. The seven-time world champion's comments came after a tough qualifying session at the Marina Bay track at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Key Takeaways:

• Lewis Hamilton finished 0.501s behind polesitter Carlos Sainz, with team-mate George Russell securing a spot on the front row between the Ferraris.
• The 2023 season has seen a tight qualifying battle between the Mercedes drivers, with Russell currently leading 8-7 after Singapore.
• Despite Hamilton's pole position in Hungary, his only one this season, he expressed eagerness for the launch of the new Mercedes in February.

Hamilton's qualifying performance was not up to his usual standards, and he attributed this to an overnight set-up change that "didn't work for me". He commended his team-mate, telling the press,

"Really happy for George, I think he did a mega job. He's just been connected with the car all weekend. It started good for us yesterday and it's not so good today."

When probed about the difficulty of getting the car into its optimal performance zone, Hamilton didn't mince words, saying,

"It is the hardest car that I've ever driven to get right."

While Hamilton was optimistic about Russell's chances of winning the Singapore race, he was more reserved about his own prospects. He highlighted the unpredictability of the car's performance after the set-up changes, especially over longer stints.

"For me, it's just - yeah. See what I can do," he remarked. "If I can get further up then great. The car was good yesterday on a long run but I changed the car overnight and it's now - I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow with the car."

Earlier in the weekend, Hamilton voiced his disapproval of the decision by four teams to veto the introduction of an additional DRS zone. He believes teams should promote more racing action. However, when asked by Motorsport.com about the potential impact of this decision on the race, he remained hopeful, noting,

"I think so, just because of the track layout, the surface is better. I don't know if it's going to be a huge difference but hopefully it's in a positive direction."