Sir Lewis Hamilton has been waiting for the right car for a long time now. In the last two years, the British driver has been something he never was in an F1 season. Prior to 2022, the seven-time champion had never been winless in his long and illustrious career in F1. Since the cost cap era started in 2022, the Mercedes star has been winless. Moreover, the Silver Arrows have managed to win one race in the last two years. Last year, they were winless. The only team to beat Red Bull in 2023 for even one race was Ferrari in Singapore. Since the last season was over, things have changed drastically in the Mercedes team.
A big shock for them came in the news that Lewis Hamilton would move to Ferrari at the end of the new season. Hence, the whole team, including the most decorated racer in the sport, wants to leave the team with a bang. Now, for the upcoming season, the Brackley team seems to have an interesting package. But is it strong enough to beat the reigning champions? Hamilton thinks Red Bull might be way faster than Mercedes in the long run. But this year, Mercedes has a car that the drivers can fight with.
Lewis Hamilton Feels They Can Fight With Mercedes W15
In the last two seasons, W13 and W14 have been nightmares for the two Mercedes drivers – Hamilton and George Russell. But the former hopes this year’s car is a lot different than it’s predecessors. In FP2 for the opening Grand Prix in Bahrain, Lewis Hamilton surprisingly topped the timesheet after a long time. But he knew that they should not get ahead of themselves. Later, in the first qualifying session of the year, Hamilton finished at P9. Russell was faster than him in the qualifying session in Bahrain, finishing third.
Anyhow, Lewis Hamilton told Autosport that it was a very tough qualifying session. But it was also exciting to see the other drivers pretty close. Moreover, Hamilton mentioned Russell’s position in the qualifying session as a testament to the work the team engineers have done in the factory. Finally, Hamilton feels they have a car to fight with. Moreover, the seven-time champion blamed himself for making a set-up change that created problems in the qualifying session. He hoped it would be okay, but then it just wasn’t nice to drive.
The Seven-time Champion Mentioned The Current Car Is A Good Starting Point
When Autosport asked Hamilton if he is a lot more excited than he was 12 months ago, he replied, “Now, I’m feeling ugh!” After all, they prepared throughout the offseason to start the new season well. But then the qualifying session was just not good enough for Mercedes in Bahrain.
However, Lewis Hamilton thinks the W15 car is fantastic. It is really pleasing for the seven-time champion that finally, they have a car to fight with potentially. Moreover, Hamilton believes with this car, they have a good starting point to build on throughout the season. There’s a lot of possibility but Hamilton knows that they have a lot of work to do to keep building on it.
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