Lewis Hamilton pays Mercedes factory visit in bid for just "0.01 per cent" of progress

Hamilton, Mercedes, Styria — Photo: © LAT Images

Styrian Grand Prix

Hamilton pays Mercedes factory visit in bid for just "0.01 per cent" of progress

Red Bull heads to its home circuit with three wins in a row

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Friday 25 June 2021 05:00

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Lewis Hamilton has revealed Mercedes is leaving "no stone unturned" in order to stop the rot against Red Bull at the Styrian Grand Prix and will be satisfied with just 0.01 per cent of progress.

Mercedes has lost its dominance over F1 this season as Red Bull has stormed into a 37-point lead in the constructors' standings with three victories in a row in Monaco, Baku and France.

After surrendering the lead in the race at the Paul Ricard circuit last weekend through a mix of pace and strategic error amongst other small issues, Hamilton has explained he has been "working flat out these past few days", even visiting the Mercedes factory.

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"Day one is always about recovery but there has been a lot of zooms, a lot of calls, everyone in the team has been really inspiring and it's encouraging to see everyone flat out, leaving no stone unturned," said Hamilton.

"I got to be at the factory yesterday so it was good to see and speak to the team and continue to encourage them to keep pushing, which is what they are doing because we need everyone to be on their A-game this year to fight these Red Bulls.

"I wouldn't say that we get the answers that we are looking for. I think we definitely have more information coming here and we will find out - hopefully if it is dry - if the things we have found push us in the right direction.

"But there are so many elements, it is not just one thing. You look at the last race, there are lots and lots of areas where we lost position and if we had some things differently we potentially could have had a different outcome.

"So we look at our processes and how we communicate and how we deliver and hopefully we can implement from here."

Mercedes not thinking about being behind

Red Bull made up most of its time on the long, double-part Mistral straight last time out and with its home circuit for the Styria-Austria double-header consisting of three long straights, more pain could be in store for Mercedes.

Hamilton, however, has insisted the team enters the weekend expecting to challenge for the win.

Asked if Mercedes was on the back foot, the seven-time champion replied: "I think that is a negative way to approach any race, to think that you are on the back foot.

"We know how strong they are. There are three long straights here and we see how much time they were taking out of us on the straights in the last race.

"It could be the same here, we will wait and see but I come here with an optimistic approach that what we learnt in the last race and what we have learnt since then, just in the last three days will hopefully help us take a small step forwards.

"Even if it is 0.01 per cent, that is a step in the right direction."