Lewis Hamilton admits he is ‘worried’ that Mercedes won’t catch up to Red Bull in 2024
Mercedes had only finished above Red Bull just once in the whole season.
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Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton (Via IMAGO)
Max Verstappen produced another brilliant qualifying performance this week at the Japanese GP as he seeks redemption for a poor Singapore GP last week. In contrast, his Mercedes rival, Lewis Hamilton, could only qualify at P7, trailing behind Verstappen by 1.031 seconds. Seeing the growing gap despite last Sunday’s setback, Hamilton admitted that his team might fail to close the gap not only this season but next year as well.
Red Bull has achieved remarkable success in the 2023 season and is set to clinch the constructors’ championship in the upcoming Japanese Grand Prix. Despite their difficulties in the Singapore Grand Prix, they are in the lead with 597 points, with Mercedes and Ferrari trailing behind at 289 and 265 points, respectively.
Both Mercedes secured places within the top 10 for tomorrow’s grid. But the one-second gap between the race leader front the remaining front-row drivers is something that makes him worried.
“We’re one second away. It’s like, crazy. To close that gap before next year, at this point to still be a second down on a track like this is definitely worrying for us as a team,” said Lewis Hamilton, as reported by Racefans.net.
Lewis Hamilton is pleased with Mercedes’ progress overnight at Japanese GP
Mercedes managed to secure places within the top 10 for tomorrow’s grid. Lewis Hamilton acknowledged that despite being in a disappointing 14th place during practice the previous day, he was pleased with the progress Mercedes had made overnight.
He claimed that the rear downforce was the reason they were slow in the first sector but is pleased with the turnaround and development his team made on the W14 that helped to secure a better pace and qualifying finish better than his teammate George Russell.
“Yesterday was horrendous, but we made some good changes overnight, and the car was feeling really good today, so I was much happier with it. Just unfortunately, we’re not quick enough. We’re a long way away on rear downforce, so that’s why we’re so slow in the first sector. But the laps felt really good,” said Lewis Hamilton, as reported by Formula1.com
- George Russell blames the Suzuka surface for massive tire degradation
- Mercedes reveals the reason for Lewis Hamilton’s struggles in Qualifying
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Tanishka Sharma
(31 Articles Published)