Lewis Hamilton commenced his final season with Mercedes with Bahrain GP practice session rounds. After a life-changing winter where the British driver chose to switch guns to Ferrari in a historic move, Lewis turned up at Mercedes’ garbage for the W15 launch in the same month.
Speaking of W15, the 2024 F1 challenger seems much better than its predecessor to the naked eye. Moreover, the machinery performed well in pre-season testing, where the rivals even accused the team of sandbagging. Notably, Lewis Hamilton unleashed his inner beast during FP2, which sent waves of hope amongst Mercedes fans. However, Lewis has issued a caution with respect to gaining an edge over Red Bull.
Lewis Hamilton Still Not Confident Of Cashing Red Bull
Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton took 2024 season F1 challenger W15 for a spin for FP1 and FP2 sessions on Thursday. While FP1 was an average session, Hamilton came to life in the following practice session. The seven-time world champion posted the fastest lap and topped the time sheets following the conclusion of the hour-long FP2 session. However, despite the encouraging results, Lewis was more surprised than happy to see his name at the top. The Briton explained that the car feels good and he indeed made a lot of improvements in the second session. But the 39-year-old refused to set his expectations high.
“We can’t get ahead of ourselves. We need to keep working on the set-up and trying to extract more,” said Lewis. The Mercedes driver explained his concerns with W15’s straight-line pace. He confirmed that Mercedes is nowhere close to Red Bull’s long-run pace. And that’s an area they need to work on as a team before the race day. Regardless, Lewis Hamilton seemed to be in a positive headspace. He affirmed being happier in W15. “It feels like a race car, for once. The last two cars didn’t feel like that,” added Hamilton. Lewis was especially happy with the seating position and moved much backward. Now, he can feel the car when it approaches the corners, which will, in turn, improve his decision-making skills. Overall, the British driver seemed excited after both the practice sessions. Despite visible concerns, he expects to attain fruitful results during the Grand Prix.
George Russell Admits W15 Revolves Around Hamilton
In an interesting take, Mercedes’ young driver, George Russell, claimed that the W15 was designed to suit Lewis Hamilton. In a recent interview, Russell admitted that W15’s changes were made to Hamilton’s wishes. For example, the cockpit position was moved backward as it troubled Lewis in the 2023 season. However, Russell has no problem with Lewis having a say in development matters.
George Russell admits that Lewis Hamilton is very experienced, and thus, his input is valuable. “It’s good that the team has sort of been listening to that. But we need to see if that translates into lap time,” said Russell. It remains to be seen whom the W15 suits better. But the car is already looking much better compared to its predecessor. Thus, it’s safe to assume Hamilton’s inputs will make a difference this year for Mercedes.
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