Hamilton was frustrated by the W15’s change of behaviour
Lewis Hamilton was left confused as the behaviour of his Formula 1 Mercedes W15 changed from FP3 to qualifying at Mexico City GP, leaving him sixth on the grid for Sunday’s race.
Having given his car to Kimi Antonelli for FP1 on Friday Hamilton noted after FP2 that he needed “more rear.”
He was happier with the car in FP3 and added a bigger wing in search of downforce, but then found himself losing performance in qualifying. He lines up on the grid behind team mate George Russell, who still has the old floor.
“P3 felt decent, it felt like we were on the right track,” said Hamilton when asked by this writer about his progress.
“So I decided not to make any changes. All we did is put the wing on, and I was like, let’s leave it there. There’s not really a lot we could do in setup changes to progress the car forwards. The performance is where it is.
“Then we got into qualifying, and I had no rear. It’s just like, it flips on its head. It’s a very strange thing with a car.
“We definitely took a good step in FP3 I thought, at least in balance. But we were still six-tenths off the cars ahead. We put the bigger wing on to try and get more downforce, and it just went slower.”
Hamilton acknowledged that the car getting worse from Friday to Saturday has been a regular theme: “The same as every single race I’ve had this year.”
He acknowledged that the W15 remains tricky to drive, as evidenced by George Russell’s crash on Friday.
“We have three-wheeling, and the ride height is moving 15mm, something like that, up and down. And when it does that, it shits the bed, basically!”
With Russell running the old spec floor Hamilton acknowledged that the team will gather some useful information in what is in effect a back-to-back test.
“I will be interesting for us to get a reading, because obviously I’m on the upgraded car, which should be quicker, but I don’t think it is.
“We’ll get lots of data tomorrow. I don’t think we’ll compete with the guys ahead, just too fast. Just see how it goes. I just want to go to the end of the race, at least this time.”
Adam Cooper F1 