Lewis Hamilton, a record eight-time winner at the Hungaroring, is approaching the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix with tempered expectations. The Mercedes driver, who will start from fifth place, is concerned about the weather forecast, which predicts bright sunshine and temperatures of up to 30 degrees Celsius – conditions that may not be favourable for his car. The Mercedes driver further expresses his disappointment with Formula 1 as a whole with his struggles to get his head around ground effect F1. It was a stark swing from the euphoria of winning the British Grand Prix last time.
Hamilton’s boss, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, has also criticised all parties involved in what he described as a “total underperformance” in qualifying for Saturday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Wolff slams Mercedes
Wolff expressed his frustration after three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton qualified in fifth place, while George Russell qualified in 17th. It came just two weeks after the team’s impressive performance in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, where Hamilton secured an emotional victory.
Russell described his qualifying experience as a “disaster” after a mistake in the first qualifying run left him unable to advance and with insufficient fuel for a quicker lap.
Hamilton struggled in the second session, barely making it through a wet-and-dry session in 10th place and eventually finishing six-tenths of a second behind Lando Norris, who claimed pole position for McLaren.
“It was a total underperformance from literally everyone here,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1.
“To lose a car in Q1 is just not right. Driver-team combination – that should not happen. In the end we just didn’t have the pace. A very disappointing day.”
Hamilton admits problems: “I hate this”
“The hotter it gets, the worse it is for us and the race is supposed to be really hot,” said Hamilton in the post qualifying presser.
“When we started qualifying it was cooler and we did a lot better. Then when it dried out and got hotter, it wasn’t ideal. So when the guys at the front pull away in the race, they either have more downforce or they can cool their tyres better.”
Hamilton put in a mixed performance in qualifying on Saturday. He was second in Q1, ahead of all the other favourites, only beaten by Daniel Ricciardo (Racing Bulls) and tied with Max Verstappen (Red Bull). However, he finished tenth in Q2 after a nail-biting finish against Nico Hulkenberg.
In Q3, Hamilton finished fifth, 0.627 seconds behind Lando Norris’ pole time and 0.158 seconds behind Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) in P4.
“Maybe the car could have been two tenths faster,” speculated Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff. “But our tyre temperatures fluctuated and we didn’t do a very good job of finding that happy medium for Lewis where the car had optimum grip.”
Tough race ahead
Two weeks after an emotional home win at Silverstone, Hamilton was left with mixed feelings: “You can’t be happy with fifth,” he said.
“But we did a good job and gave it our all. I think we got the car running well at a fundamental level. But when it gets hot, we’re just not that fast.”
With the likelihood of a hot race, Hamilton’s outlook is not particularly optimistic.
“When the session started, it was a lot cooler and we were pretty quick. But as soon as it got warmer, the others went faster and we went slower – or at least we didn’t go as fast,” he noted.
Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari ‘like on rails’
Hamilton admitted to “struggling” with the balance of his car on Friday and Saturday.
“In the heat it was really difficult to find a good balance. When I look at the Red Bull and the McLaren, they hardly ever oversteer. Their car runs like it’s on rails,” he observed. Hamilton’s Mercedes, on the other hand, required constant adjustments to prevent it from running away.
Analysing his performance, Hamilton noted: “One or two tenths might have been possible if we had gone out later because the track was getting faster,
“That would have put him ahead of Sainz, but not in the top three, as he was more than half a second behind Verstappen. Under normal circumstances, Verstappen and McLaren are likely to be out of reach during the race.”
Hamilton is also expecting tough competition from Ferrari, with Sainz (4th) and Charles Leclerc (6th) showing strong performances at the Hungaroring, especially in sunny and hot conditions. It is quite possible that the Ferraris will cope better with the heat of the race than the Mercedes.
Angry Russell speaks of ‘disaster’ after Q1 retirement
Mercedes’ pace was good enough to get both cars into Q3 in Hungary, but George Russell had to throw in the towel after Q1. The first of three sessions was chaotic, with a brief rain shower and a red flag caused by Sergio Perez’s accident. In the end, Russell was only able to finish 17th as he ran out of fuel in his car.
Russell stayed in the pits while many drivers took to the track to try and improve their times. Valtteri Bottas in the Sauber put Russell in the danger zone from which he could not escape. But who was to blame for the Mercedes disaster?
Russell and team boss Toto Wolff split the blame between driver and team. Russell said: “At the beginning it was my fault. I didn’t think it would rain again and I thought the track would get faster.”
“I did an easy lap and then suddenly it started to rain. That was the most important lap,” continued Russell.
“But it didn’t matter because the track was the fastest in the end and we didn’t have enough fuel in the car to finish the session. I don’t know what happened, it was a total disaster.”
Russell demands a review of what went wrong
Russell insisted that no one in the team should lose focus and that he now needs to sit down with everyone involved to understand what happened.
“We had the car to fight for the top three, we shouldn’t have been out after Q1. Lewis [Hamilton] just made it to Q3”.
“I’m really angry because I had a much faster car and we can’t just throw away opportunities like that,” the British driver continued.
“It’s going to be a tough race. We still have a chance to get through and maybe fight for the top 6. But it won’t be easy from 16th place.”
Wolff takes team to task
Wolff also took the entire team to task. He told Sky: “We completely underperformed in this session. Firstly, we had a slow lap at the start, which George was too conservative with. At the same time Lewis did a mega lap.
“Then it was probably 70 per cent a team mistake that we gave him too little fuel. We had planned a fast lap, a slow lap, a fast lap. But he did three fast laps and that might have cost us the better position in the end. It is what it is.”
“Overall, it was the team’s performance after a good Silverstone weekend and the good races before that that led to this setback.”
Wolff explained why Russell went out so early: “We discussed it for a long time and we knew that the track conditions would improve and that the lap would be at the end rather than the beginning. We wanted to make sure we didn’t get into a traffic situation there.
“It wasn’t a big mistake, but we should have used a bit more fuel for the lap, which isn’t much,” the Mercedes team boss explained.
“Or we should have clearly told him to slow down and not to do three fast laps in a row, because that cost us 45 seconds in the end.”
Hungary: Hamilton admits to a huge battle with ‘ground effect’ cars
In an interesting development during the post qualifying interviews, Hamilton confirmed a statement made by Andrew Shovlin, head of operations for the Mercedes racing team, regarding his struggles with the “ground effect cars” that will be introduced to F1 in 2022.
“It’s true,” admitted Hamilton. “It’s because of these tyres. For some reason I don’t like the way they go. I’ve been really bad in qualifying for a while now. I’m working on improving that and eventually I’ll get there. He described the process as “really frustrating”.
Hamilton added: “I’ve never had a problem with tyres in my career. But I think it’s more to do with the type of car anyway. The cars are more critical to drive than ever before and they don’t like it when you brake late and turn like a V. You have to brake earlier and carry the speed through the corner. I hate that and I’m not the only one.”
Bleak prospects for future success for Hamilton?
Hamilton’s candid admission raises significant concerns about his future in the sport Ground effect regulations, due to be introduced in 2022, have dramatically altered the dynamics of F1 cars, requiring a driving style that Hamilton finds challenging. If he continues to struggle with these modern cars, it is unlikely that he will ever be able to replicate the success he enjoyed prior to these regulatory changes.
Hamilton’s illustrious career, marked by record-breaking performances and numerous championships, was built in an era when cars suited his aggressive driving style. The current generation of cars, which require earlier braking and smoother cornering, do not play to his strengths. As a result, Hamilton faces a formidable challenge in adapting his driving technique to these new demands.
While his determination and resilience are unquestionable, the reality of his situation suggests that significant success may remain elusive under the current regulations. This stands in stark contrast to his previous dominance of the sport, and points to a potential twilight period for one of F1’s most iconic drivers.
As the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix approaches, Hamilton’s reflections underline not only the immediate challenges he faces, but also the wider implications for his career. His path to another victory at the Hungaroring appears steep, and the prospect of future triumphs under the current regulations