Lewis Hamilton’s recent performance at the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix stands out in a sport where every millisecond matters.
Not only did it place him in third, which was his best qualifying position this season, but it also highlighted the challenges facing his Mercedes team.
Despite this accomplishment, Hamilton said that his Mercedes W15 had lost its potential, and that he frequently felt outpaced just when he tried to improve performance.
The seven-time champion was able to qualify better than his teammate George Russell, putting both Mercedes drivers on the second row in third and fourth place, respectively.
This obvious just the second event in the season where Hamilton defeated Russell in qualifying.
In any case, he actually limped along the post sitter, Lando Norris from McLaren, and Red Bull’s Maximum Verstappen, highlighting a cutthroat yet not prevailing speed.”
He spoke to the press in Spain. “I still feel like I lost performance going into qualifying.”
“Perspective is everything, so maybe they just moved forward. However, I definitely believe there was more.
Yet, similarly as you begin to push the vehicle, it could do without it. Practically speaking, when you leave a tad of edge, the vehicle feels very pleasant.
We struggle, however, when we begin to really rely on it in an effort to squeeze in an additional lap.
The underlying hiccup with tire warmers in FP1, as per Hamilton, cost him essentially.
An issue with the covers left him “seven-tenths down,” a weakness that was redressed in later meetings yet had proactively set a not so great beginning.
Reflecting on the setback, Hamilton said, “I think it’s all in the tires.”
“You saw in P1 I was seven-tenths down because of an issue with the covers. We fixed it for the subsequent sessions, but it puts you in a bad position.
Lewis Hamilton of Extraordinary England and Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Group during training in front of the F1 Thousand Prix of Spain at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on June 21, 2024 in Barcelona, Spain.
Hamilton will begin from… “But just as you start to push the car, it doesn’t like it,” Hamilton said when discussing the car’s adverse reaction to aggressive driving as he delves deeper into the technical difficulties.
In practice, the car feels quite nice when you leave a little room for error. We struggle, however, when we begin to really rely on it in an effort to squeeze in an additional lap.
Looking forward, Hamilton was hopeful but still sober minded about his possibilities in the race, zeroing in distinctly on tire debasement and technique.”
Tomorrow’s degradation and our maintenance of the tires are everything. So we won’t be aware until we get into that previously run,” he made sense of.
Besides, Hamilton brought up the huge danger from the Ferraris, which had as of late gotten overhauls and exhibited solid long-run practice sessions.
I think their long run pace looked areas of strength for very, I believe it’s seriously cooperating collectively and attempt and stand firm on foothold in any event,” he said.
In the end, Hamilton summed up his position and readiness for the upcoming challenges with a combination of determination and realisticity.
“It’s game on if we happen to have more pace available to us and can hold onto these guys.
However, we truly won’t be aware until tomorrow and debasement is consistently the key here.”
All eyes will be on Hamilton and Mercedes to see if they can turn their qualifying positions into podium finishes as strategies develop and tires hit the road.
