After the disappointment of Abu Dhabi 2021, everyone expected Lewis Hamilton to come back stronger with Mercedes, because that’s what the 7X champ has done in the past. Mercedes however hasn’t been able to build a competitive car and has struggled for over the last 2 years. And now, after a disappointing Saturday at the Miami GP, Lewis Hamilton fires a warning Mercedes’ way. But what did he say?
Mercedes opted to let go of the Zeropod design midway through the last season and was expected to excel with the new design philosophy and James Allison back at the base. However, it has been nothing but a disappointment as Mercedes doesn’t really understand what’s wrong with their car, and it’s just Lewis Hamilton and George Russell trying to figure out and fight the car. In some sessions, the car looks podium-worthy whereas in others, it doesn’t even look points worthy.
Miami GP has so far been the latter kind of weekend with both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell getting eliminated in SQ2 and then struggling to make it up to the points. Despite Mercedes bringing upgrades to the weekend, the car doesn’t seem to improve at all, and Lewis Hamilton has fired a 9-word warning to George Russell and the rest of the team saying, “I’m going to send it into Turn 1 again”. Yesterday, because of Hamilton’s eagerness to outperform his car, he outbraked himself and caused a massive crash into Turn 1. If he sends it again, George Russell might be on the recipient’s side.
Speaking at the Miami GP, Lewis Hamilton was heard saying, “We brought upgrades this weekend, a small upgrade, but it’s a real challenge out there trying to get the most out of this car. It’s very peaky. It’s very on the knife edge all the time.” He then added, “My Q2 lap felt amazing and I couldn’t believe that I was in the top 5. Then when we got to Q3, the car was just, again, different. But we are progressing. Tomorrow we’re in a better position. I’m going to send it into Turn 1 again. We’ll see how it goes.”
Looks like the Mercedes duo have their work cut out for them later at the race today. And Hamilton wouldn’t want a repeat of what happened yesterday during the Sprint race. Let’s see how it went for the Briton yesterday.
Lewis Hamilton’s miserable Sprint Race at the Miami GP
Lewis Hamilton started the race P12 after a poor performance in the qualifying but got off to a great start off the line. However, he went in too quickly into turn 1 and locked up on the apex, hitting Fernando Alonso on the outside, who in turn hit his teammate, who hit Lando Norris. 3 cars suffered because of Hamilton’s move, and for the most part of the race after that, he was stuck behind Kevin Magnussen.
The 7X champ complained about his straight-line speed being very low as he was stuck behind the Danish driver and was not able to overtake him. Magnussen, on the other hand, was getting his elbows out whenever Hamilton tried making a move. Eventually, Hamilton got past Magnussen and then Tsunoda to finish P8. But it all came to waste as Hamilton was given a 20-second time penalty for speeding in the pitlane during the safety car.