F1 News: Lewis Hamilton Miserable - 'We're Battling the Same Issues'

Alex Harrington | Apr 20, 2024

Oct 22, 2023; Austin, Texas, USA; Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport driver Lewis Hamilton (44) of / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Lewis Hamilton experienced a disappointing end to his qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix, landing an eighteenth-place start tomorrow. This underwhelming performance comes despite his success in the day’s earlier sprint race, revealing ongoing struggles with his Mercedes car.

Despite hopes high from earlier in the day after securing second place in the sprint race at the Shanghai International Circuit, Lewis Hamilton faced a significant setback during the qualifying session for the Chinese Grand Prix. He made a marked error in the final sector, notably locking up into the hairpin thanks to a strong tailwind, which resulted in losing considerable time against his teammate George Russell. This costly mistake confined him to a disappointing 18th place start for the main race, marking one of the rare occasions in Hamilton’s illustrious career where he has started from far back on the grid.

"Sorry guys," Hamilton said over the radio to his team, who had also suggested car adjustments after the sprint race to improve speed in slow and medium-speed corners. Despite these tweaks, Hamilton’s qualifying woes underscored persistent issues with the vehicle’s performance.

In his post-sprint race comments, Hamilton was candid about the persistent challenges Mercedes faces. He downplayed any undue optimism about improvements in the car’s competitiveness, attributing any semblance of success in the sprint primarily to the rainy conditions rather than genuine advancements.

"It’s over 90% down to the scenario of the rain yesterday if I'm really honest. We've not made a brilliant step from the last race. The car is exactly the same.

"We're battling the same issues that we had in the last race. Probably pace-wise in a similar position," Hamilton said.

Toto Wolff, Mercedes Team Principal, also commented on the situation, aligning with Hamilton’s perspective.

"We take the positives. But also, realistically, these guys behind us fought with each other, held each other up. We are where we are. It’s a top six car and this is what we need to acknowledge and work on from here," Wolff admitted.

The outcome of the upcoming race and Hamilton’s performance will be telling of Mercedes's ability to address the consistent hurdles they have encountered thus far in the season. Optimism from the sprint race has been tampered, with Hamilton and his team fully aware that substantial improvements are imperative for any revival of their championship aspirations.