F1 News: Mercedes Drivers Face Bitter Challenge After "Worst" Sprint Race At Interlagos

Saajan Jogia | Nov 3, 2024

Oct 19, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team driver Lewis Hamilton (44) of Team Great Britain speaks to the crowd during a fan forum before the Sprint Race in the 2024 Formula One US Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Lewis Hamilton described the Sao Paulo sprint race as "one of the worst races" due to the severe lack of performance and traction in his Mercedes W15 F1 car. The seven-time world champion qualified P11 for the sprint and ultimately finished in the same position, while teammate George Russell secured sixth place. Russell admitted that such a result was anticipated, noting the team would have to "accept" the current situation.

Hamilton’s desire to finish the final races of the season strongly before joining Ferrari next year appears increasingly challenging, given ongoing issues with the W15 that the team has struggled to resolve thus far. It is unlikely that Mercedes will roll out further upgrades for the W15, as the team now focuses on the 2025 car. At the United States Grand Prix, Hamilton spun out onto the gravel due to a balance issue, and the following race in Mexico saw him finish in fourth place, with Russell following in fifth.

However, the sprint race in Brazil has highlighted the unpredictable nature of the car once again. Following the race start, the 39-year-old lost three places to other cars over the course of the 24-lap race before getting caught in a DRS chain that made it harder to overtake. Eventually, though, he managed to finish the race without scoring points. Speaking to the media about how the car felt after the sprint race, Hamilton said:

“Horrendous! Honestly it felt really terrible today, even worse than it did in qualifying.

“Definitely a very difficult race, that was one of the worst races. I felt the car just sliding around and zero grip behind even the Williams.

“I could barely keep up with them for a period of time. Lots of work to do to try and change the car, flip it on its head for quali.”

Russell, on the other hand, who trailed Ferrari's Carlos Sainz by five seconds, admitted that it was expected he would finish between the top five and "midfield teams," suggesting that further work will be done on the car ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix, but the tweaks won't be significant enough to help him compete with the cars in the front row. He added:

“I think we finished exactly where we expected beforehand, exactly halfway between the front five and the midfield teams.

“We’re going to try and make some improvements into this afternoon and tomorrow but we’re not suddenly going to be able to make a race-winning car overnight. We just have to accept that’s where we are right now.”