Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Hamilton not expecting a quick fix to Ferrari struggles
Lewis Hamilton described his Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as “horrible”, and he doesn’t see a short-term solution to his “painful” struggles this season at Ferrari.
A Sprint victory in China suggested Hamilton was starting to get to grips with his new machinery after 12 years at Mercedes, but that has been followed by grand prix results of seventh, fifth and seventh over the past three races. Following optimism in Bahrain that he clicked with the car during one stint, the entire weekend in Jeddah was difficult and Hamilton was downbeat after finishing over half a minute behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
“Nothing positive to take from [the race], except for Charles finishing on the podium, which is great for the team,” Hamilton said.
“It was horrible. It was not enjoyable at all. I was just sliding around. First stint, massive understeer, car not turning, and then massive deg, and then the second stint, slightly better balance, but still just no pace. It was pretty bad.
“I just lacked grip, I lacked good balance. I was just fighting the car every corner, and nothing I did would work.”
After five races in six weeks, the next race in Miami is a standalone event on May 4, but Hamilton doesn’t expect to find any significant solutions to his difficulties in that time.
“[Leclerc] has been driving this car for a long time, so he definitely knows it pretty well. There's plenty in the data, for sure. Honestly, it doesn't look massively different in the data, just that you're slower through the corners.
“I think I will struggle with this in Miami. I don't know how long I'll struggle for, but it's definitely painful … At the moment there's no fix. This is how it's going to be for the rest of the year. So it’s pretty painful.
“I don't anticipate [a solution], but we do have slightly different set-ups. We'll have to look and see whether that set-up is the way the car likes to be set. Him and his side are definitely also doing a good job of it.”
Hamilton also described the ground effect era of car that was introduced in 2022 as “the worst” given the difficulties he’s faced, but admits it’s not simply a case of looking at the car for answers.
“No, it's not. In qualifying it’s me, extracting performance. In the race, I literally tried everything, and the car just didn't want to go any quicker.”
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
Read Chris Medland's articles
Latest News
Comments
Comments are disabled until you accept Social Networking Cookies. Update cookie preferences
If the dialog doesn't appear, ad-blockers are often the cause; try disabling yours or see our Social Features Support.