Hamilton due luck as Mercedes unpick data ahead of Spain return
Hamilton due luck as Mercedes unpick data ahead of Spain return
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is hopeful luck will finally aid Lewis Hamilton's cause this season given the seven-time F1 champion has suffered miserably with safety car incidents.
Since last year's controversial ending to the season when a safety car period worked against Hamilton and denied him a record-breaking eighth title, the 37-year-old has continued to see events conspire against him this year.
In Saudi Arabia and the most recent race in Miami, in particular, Hamilton has twice been caught out by safety cars which have cost him positions and points.
Conversely, in Miami, team-mate George Russell benefitted considerably from the introduction of the safety car following a crash involving McLaren's Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly in his AlphaTauri.
Reflecting on the inaugural Miami event, Wolff said: "With the third quickest car underneath us, we extracted the maximum points possible.
"Considering George's start position, it was a great recovery drive, helped by when the safety car was deployed.
"But the timing was unfortunate for Lewis who was strong all weekend and on course to score P5 without the neutralisation of the race.
"I've no doubt that over the course of the season, a little luck will eventually go his way."
Mercedes seeking to build on 'flashes of true potential' in Miami
For the race around the Hard Rock Stadium, Mercedes introduced its first significant upgrade of the season, with the W13s fitted with new front and rear wings.
Throughout Friday practice, the developments appeared to offer an improvement in performance, only for Mercedes to then pursue more downforce going into Saturday qualifying and lose its way.
Ahead of this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, Wolff is hopeful the time spent between the two events results in his team making further strides towards title pacesetters Ferrari and Red Bull. "During Friday practice [in Miami], the car showed flashes of its true potential," added Wolff.
"We continued experimenting with set-up, fitted some new components and that provided us answers and indications of which direction to go in. "A huge amount of hard work has been going on in the factories to unpick the data from Miami and turn it into improvements for Barcelona.
"Having run there in winter testing, albeit with a car that has evolved a lot since then, it will be a good place to correlate the information we have on the current car and we're hopeful we'll make another step forward. "The track itself is a good all-rounder, so it really puts every aspect of the car to the test. "In basketball terms, we head to Barcelona at the end of the first quarter of the game.
"We know that once we translate the learnings we've made into track performance, there's still a lot of the game left to play."
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Incredible statistic puts Verstappen AHEAD of Hamilton record
- 58 minutes ago
Fierce rival calls Hamilton F1's GOAT in surprise admission
- 1 hour ago
Mercedes star tipped to replace struggling driver THIS season
- 2 hours ago
- 1
F1 legend issues DAMNING verdict on proposed rule change
- 3 hours ago
Red Bull chief admits interest in poaching TWO rival stars
- Today 09:57
Audi agree LONG-TERM F1 deal with star driver
- Today 09:13
Related news
Hamilton sends strong message over Gaza deaths
Former F1 chief hits out at Hamilton 'EXCUSES'
Hamilton struggles pinned on Mercedes by team's OWN driver
Cocky sporting legend CHALLENGES Hamilton in stunning claim
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860