Hamilton concerned by lack of progress from Mercedes changes

The Briton says "nothing" the team does "makes a difference"

Ewan Gale

Friday 8 April 2022 09:45

Lewis Hamilton has revealed "nothing" his Mercedes team changes on the W13 makes any difference after a difficult Friday of running at the Australian Grand Prix.

The seven-time champion finished the day only 13th quickest and one and a half seconds slower than fastest driver Charles Leclerc, with team-mate George Russell only 11th.

Hamilton failed to reach Q2 in Saudi Arabia and with Alpine, Alfa Romeo, AlphaTauri and McLaren all faster than Mercedes in second practice at Albert Park, the Briton is concerned by the lack of progress when making changes.

"I feel good, I feel ok, it was just a difficult session," said Hamilton.

"It is just nothing you change on the car makes a difference at the moment so that is the difficult thing. You get in very optimistic and then you make changes and it doesn't seem to be wanting to improve.

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"We made some changes going into FP2. FP1 was better and FP2 was harder for us. I don't know, just a tricky car."

Hamilton - "Not a lot we can do"

Mercedes has been off the pace since topping the final day of the first pre-season test in Barcelona, although an unlikely podium in Bahrain for Hamilton raised spirits.

But with the struggles from Jeddah a fortnight ago continuing in Melbourne, Hamilton believes there is not much that can be done to reverse his fortunes.

"I don't think that it will be tricky to find our way back," he explained.

"There is just not a lot we can do. This is the way it is so we just have to drive with it.

"That is the frustrating thing because you are trying to push and when you do a decent lap, you are 1.2 seconds down so it is just difficult."