Lewis Hamilton claims he now knows ‘exactly where the Mercedes W15’ is weak after Japanese GP Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton has not got off to the best of starts during the ongoing 2024 F1 season.

Lewis Hamilton claims he now knows ‘exactly where the Mercedes W15’ is weak after Japanese GP Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton (Via: Imago)

The Japanese Grand Prix qualifying session proved quite average for Mercedes. With seven-time World Champion, Lewis Hamilton, finishing in P7 and teammate, George Russell ending his exploits in P9.

After the disappointing start to the season, Mercedes did not make a huge step during qualifying as was expected of them. Following the qualifying session, Lewis Hamilton spoke about the areas where he thinks Mercedes is weak. He then added how he will ensure that his engineers know where to concentrate to fix the issues going forward.

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Lewis Hamilton gave fascinating insights regarding the W15 after qualifying.

I think what it’s giving us is I know exactly where the car is not strong enough, I can feel it in the car, and I know now to tell them to ‘push in this particular area’. But I’m hoping the race will be stronger tomorrow.

Lewis Hamilton after quaifying in Japan

Hamilton seems to be sure of the issues present in the 2024 challenger and added how he hopes the race pace will be better during tomorrow’s 58-lap Grand Prix. Only time will tell how the Silver Arrows will fare during the marquee event.

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Lewis Hamilton praises Mercedes for W15 improvements

Lewis Hamilton has so far looked quite satisfied with the W15 during the ongoing Japanese Grand Prix weekend. After qualifying in seventh place, the driver spoke about how he is proud of the improvements his team has made to the W15 after a tough start to this year.

Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff
Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff (Via: IMAGO)

The Briton also made it known how his team back at the factory has worked really hard to improve the W15’s overall operating window to maximize the result and improve the performance. Generally, the driver felt that the W15 has proved enjoyable to drive so far in Japan.

The team did a really great job this past week making adjustments to our set-up – this is actually the first weekend I’ve not gone crazy with set-up and am not testing a bunch of things, so I’m back to a bit more normal. I think we’ve got the car into a much nicer working window and so it’s been really enjoyable driving, it’s just the guys are just a little bit faster.

Lewis Hamilton said in the same interview

Lewis Hamilton is pleased about the positive step Mercedes has made with its car. The 39-year-old is feeling confident inside the cockpit of the W15 and will definitely try to do his best to maximize the result during tomorrow’s event. Several eyes will be on Hamilton during the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix.

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