F1 News: Lewis Hamilton Down - "Thought We'd Be Closer"
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was under the impression that the 2024 W15 F1 car would help him finish closer to the Red Bulls at the front. However, with a P7 finish in the Bahrain Grand Prix, he suggested that the team has a lot more "work to do" to fight the pack in the front of the grid.
Key Takeaways:
- Lewis Hamilton expressed disappointment as the new W15 F1 car didn't deliver the expected performance, finishing seventh in Bahrain, far from the front-running Red Bulls.
- Hamilton faced issues like a cooling problem and a broken seat, starting from ninth due to a challenging qualifying session.
- Reflecting on the race, Hamilton acknowledged Mercedes' need for improvement, noting the competitiveness of rivals McLaren and Aston Martin, and emphasizing the team has "a lot of work to do."
However, the seven-time world champion ran into a series of issues starting with a cooling problem on the car, in addition to a broken seat. The P9 start on the grid, due to a disappointing qualifying session added to the disadvantage.
Looking back at race day, Hamilton compares his finish with last year's results. He told Formula1.com:
“No definitely wasn’t ideal today [or] this weekend.
“We thought we were going to be closer, but clearly not, so to be kind of the same, if not… actually I can’t remember where we finished last year, I think it was fourth and fifth.
“I think if I’d qualified better, I think that’s probably where we would have finished today, or at least fifth and sixth probably, but not much more to it.”
When asked if the team had advanced further with the performance of the 2024 car, he added:
“I definitely think we’ve got a… I need to go and look and see.
“The others look quick and it looked very close between us and McLaren and Aston [Martin], so I think we’ve got a lot of work to do.
“It was a pretty average race as you can see, but I gave it everything and I feel good within myself.”