Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time Formula 1 champion, has been without a win since the 2021 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix. Mercedes’ conceptual struggle, which began in 2022, has just gotten worse in 2023 as the British driver is struggling to manage the overall stability of the car. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen, in his RB19, has gone to scale new heights this year.
He initially went on a 15-win rampage before retaining his drivers’ championship title. While the Red Bull driver has been sailing alone at the front of the grid, Lewis Hamilton was able to close the gap at the recently concluded United States Grand Prix. He got to witness the behavior of RB19 up close, which helped him to pinpoint the shortcomings of the W14.
Lewis Hamilton Reveals Key Differences Between Mercedes’ W14 And Red Bull’s RB19
At the recently concluded USA GP, Lewis Hamilton finished P2 with less than a two-second gap to reigning champion Max Verstappen. Despite the unfortunate disqualification, Hamilton had a smile on his face as he got the opportunity to watch the behavior of RB19 from up close. The British driver always wanted a close battle with Verstappen to learn how his RB19 differs from W14. Meanwhile, during the Mexican GP media day, Hamilton opened up on his crucial findings. Firstly, he said that on low speed, Mercedes is on the same level as Red Bull. But the problem arises when the Briton pushes the throttle to maximum speed.
Lewis Hamilton discovered that at high speed, the RB19 is much more stable, which helps in easily managing the degradation of the rear tyres. A stable rear makes it a lot easier to keep the temperatures lower on the tyre and go longer and faster at the same time. “They’ve just done a better job in that space where they have a more stable platform. To which it’s much easier to drive for Max,” added Hamilton. This isn’t the first time the Mercedes ace has complained of a weaker rear end. Much earlier in the tournament, Lewi said that the stronger rear is what sets Red Bull apart from the rest of the grid. Not only that, he urged his team to move in the same direction by working on strengthening the rear end of the W14.
Hamilton Raises Suspicion On USA GP Disqualification!
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s salient efforts went down the drain as FIA disqualified them after the race. Apparently, the setup of his W14 didn’t meet the regulation, as the width of the plank exceeded the set limit. However, the Mercedes star raised suspicion about FIA’s working structure as he feels a lot of other cars were also in violation.
Ahead of the Mexican GP, Lewis Hamilton claimed that he had information of other drivers also in violation of the plank rule. However, since the FIA didn’t pick everyone for inspection, the unnamed drivers got away with it. Hamilton seemed clearly unhappy. He feels there has to be uniformity when it comes to safeguarding the integrity of the sport.
