F1 News: Lewis Hamilton Reveals Ugly Truth About W15 - Rivals Are "Walking All Over Us"
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who secured ninth place in Saturday's race in Jeddah, disclosed that the deficiencies of the car have been significantly impacting its performance, allowing rival cars to easily outperform the W15 in high-speed corners.
Key Takeaways:
- Lewis Hamilton expresses concern over the Mercedes W15's performance limitations, particularly in high-speed corners, after finishing ninth in the Jeddah race.
- Despite high expectations for Mercedes' 2024 contender, the W15 struggled to push drivers into the top 5 in the first two races of the season.
- Hamilton's race experiences highlight the car's deficiencies, with starting challenges in Bahrain and performance issues in Jeddah, prompting a call for improvements to remain competitive.
Mercedes raised the bar on expectations about its 2024 title contender over the winter break as it developed an entirely new car to compete with Red Bull at the front. However, the first two races of the season have a bleak picture to offer about the W15.
Not only in qualifying but even in the Grand Prix, the car refuses to push the drivers into the top 5. Despite his extensive experience, Hamilton started ninth on the grid in the season opener in Bahrain, over two-tenths behind Russell but, he could only manage to climb up to seventh place as Mercedes grappled with overheating issues, stemming from a misjudgment of the conditions in Sakhir.
Enduring yet another demanding race in Jeddah, the seven-time world champion crossed the finish line in ninth place, opting to stay on track during the initial safety car period. As the race progressed, Hamilton visibly struggled to keep pace with Lando Norris in the high-speed corners of Sector 1 in Jeddah, while the McLaren driver steadily increased his lead.
Speaking to the media after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Hamilton expressed that he wasn't having fun battling for ninth. He said:
“I wouldn’t say I’m having fun. I’m racing for ninth, so I definitely can’t say that. Finishing ninth is definitely not fun. But I am enjoying the actual racing part. I was hunting and I was pushing as hard as I could, I was maximising everything I had with the car, I was right on the edge.
“It was just unfortunately really lacking performance in the high speed, where they were walking all over us. But there are positives. The car is good in low speed. We have to add a lot of load in the high speed.
“I think if we were able to do that then I think it puts us in the fight, but we’ve got some work to do.”