Lewis Hamilton is concerned that he does not see anything in the works that would help Mercedes to close the gap with their competitive competitors, who are now leading the team by at least two tenths a lap.
Following McLaren’s dominant use of their enhanced MCL38 in Miami, where Lando Norris emerged victorious, Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes all sought to counter with their own improvement packages for Imola.
Mercedes advancements, according to Lewis Hamilton, are “not in the wind tunnel.”
Thomas Maher provided further reporting.
But at Imola, Norris and McLaren put up a new challenge for the win against Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc thinks the team is about to enter that battle, Mercedes found themselves in a bit of a limbo, with Hamilton coming in sixth and 35 seconds behind Verstappen, and Russell coming in eleven seconds behind.
Hamilton believed that he was falling short of the Ferraris, McLarens, and Verstappen’s Red Bull by “two to three tenths,” even though he was happier with his pace in his second stint.
He told reporters, including Thomas Maher of PlanetF1.com, “I think my pace in the second stint was comparable to the guys that are out towards the front.”
However, I believe that two or three tenths are still missing.
In light of this, Hamilton was questioned about when he thought Mercedes would be able to cut that gap and resume challenging at the front. Naturally, he and the team were quite used to this role, but Hamilton is currently experiencing a barren spell after failing to win since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2021.
Although worryingly, Hamilton was unable to respond and stated that at this point, a performance boost of this kind is not apparent in the Mercedes wind tunnel.
Hamilton responded, “That I cannot tell you,” when asked when Mercedes will be able to overtake Red Bull, McLaren, and Ferrari. “I’m lacking… George was, as I mentioned, five tenths off yesterday and most likely three or four tenths behind in the race.
“From a development standpoint, that’s not in the wind tunnel right now.”
Additional response from the Imola GP
In response to the question of whether Mercedes has advanced in comprehending these upgrades for Imola, Hamilton said, “Not a big difference.” Very tiny, but very tiny, steps.
A excursion through the gravel at Acque Minerali on lap 28, according to the seven-time world champion, lost him five seconds. He also had to add three more seconds since he had to pit and finish behind Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin. This had a negative impact on Hamilton’s race pace.
He acknowledged, “I think probably about five seconds with that off.”
This meant that I trailed Fernando and lost a significant amount of time there, so I estimate that I lost about eight seconds total—not ideal. We at least kept all of our jobs.
Mercedes is now 189 points behind leaders Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship, where they are in fourth.
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