Sir Lewis Hamilton has been going through a difficult phase in his F1 career. This phase started back in 2022 with the introduction of the cost cap era. In 2024, it is quite clear that Mercedes has not yet figured out a solution to make life easier for the seven-time champion under the ground effect regulations. In 2021, the great Briton and his fans went through a heartbreaking end-of-season as he narrowly missed out on the coveted eighth title. Despite Mercedes winning the constructor title that year, the Driver’s World Championship did not see the superstar winning it for the fifth time in a row.
Instead, it marked the beginning of a new champion named Max Verstappen. However, since 2022, the great English racer has been winless. It has really been tough for a driver who has won more than 100 Grands Prix not to win any in the past two years. However, the Silver Arrows have not managed to solve the issues with their car as they still lack an understanding of the car’s design capabilities and setup. Lately, in the Chinese GP, Lewis Hamilton had trouble with the W15’s setup.
Why Did Lewis Hamilton Said That He Won’t Use The Same Setup He Used In China Anymore?
The seven-time champion had a great start to the weekend of the Chinese Grand Prix. Since 2019, it was the first F1 race weekend in Shanghai, owing to COVID-19. Prior to this year, the current reigning champion, Max Verstappen, had never won a Chinese GP. On the other hand, Lewis Hamilton started the weekend well, finishing second in the sprint race. It was the first sprint race of the ongoing season. But again, it was Max Verstappen who finished at the top of the podium. However, fans thought Hamilton would have a nice qualifying session and the final race day would be great in China. But it was even worse than the first few races he had been through in 2024.
P18➡️P9
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 21, 2024
Up nine places in the Chinese GP and securing some valuable points 💪 pic.twitter.com/EyAXjSfPul
Lewis finished at P18 in the qualifying session. Later, he came back stronger and finished at P9 in the Chinese GP. In the post-race interview, according to GPblog.com, Hamilton mentioned that he made a wrong decision with the car setup. Hamilton also said he would never use that again. Perhaps it was the worst setup he ever had, feels the seven-time champion. He thought it was the right choice when he decided to go with it. But it turned out to be the worst. Finally, Lewis Hamilton mentioned that this setup ruined his weekend in China, but “Next race will be better.”
Mercedes Is Not In A Good Place At Present
Clearly, Lewis Hamilton had the worst start to the 2024 season that he could have imagined. In his 17-year-long career, he never had a worse start to a season. The seven-time champion is finding it hard to finish higher than P5 in 2024. There has already been five races completed so far. Moreover, Hamilton’s teammate George Russell has performed much better than him in qualifying sessions and on the final race days so far in 2024.
However, Mercedes as a whole has fallen further back in the constructor standings. Their customer teams like McLaren are ahead of them. Aston Martin is only 12 points behind the Silver Arrows. Ferrari and McLaren have performed way stronger and better than Toto Wolff’s team so far in the ongoing season. Before catching up to Red Bull’s level, Mercedes must look to first figure out a way to beat McLaren and Ferrari.
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