Lewis Hamilton: Baku ‘should be better’ than Monaco
Follow Us
After a frustrating race in Monaco, Lewis Hamilton is hopeful for a better weekend this time out in Baku.
Lewis Hamilton had a slightly frustrating weekend in Monaco. After a strong performance in Spain, where he came back from 19th to finish 5th. He could have finished fourth if not for a water leak issue. But in Monaco, nothing particularly worked out well for the seven-time world champion.
The car looked like a much worse drive in Monaco. It was very far away from its Spain self, and as a consequence also nowhere near the top teams – Ferrari and Red Bull. It was bouncing a lot – which the team attribute to the car’s inherent stiffness. The porpoising is thought of as a different issue than the bouncing.
Hamilton eventually finished behind Fernando Alonso, who had held the pack up behind him successfully for almost the whole dry running. Hamilton was unable to overtake after the restart following Mick Schumacher’s crash. Hamilton believes that the Mercedes W13 are not as good on the street circuits – which are bumpier than the normal, purpose-built circuits.
“Lots of work’s gone on. I’m hoping that it’s not as bumpy as Monaco, but we will find out when we get out there today. And like everyone has been saying, it’s lower downforce. Should be better – I hope so.”
Lewis Hamilton says that the upgrades from Barcelona not useful on every track
The inherent stiffness of the Mercedes W13 means that it is usually not a very smooth ride. According to Hamilton, Mercedes use a stiffer suspension in order to maximize the car’s downforce efficiency. This means that they are not as strong on street circuits as compared to normal circuits.
Hamilton said: “We’re obviously stronger on smoother circuits – Barcelona was a lot better for us, for example. There’s more open circuits that aren’t as bumpy. This is a bumpier circuit, so not necessarily great for the characteristics within our car, but it might be smoother [than Monaco] and might be okay.”
The upgrades in Barcelona were expected to improve the general performance of the car and to an extent, they have done that, but the upgrades are not useful on all circuits.
“The new direction that we’ve got to in Barcelona has given us more of a direction to go in and that’s been positive, I would say, so far. But it’s not working everywhere.”
Lewis Hamilton finished FP1 in 6th place, behind Fernando Alonso. He was almost a second and two tenths behind Sergio Perez’s Red Bull at the top of the standings.
Stay Updated!
Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)