Hamilton still "way off" F1 title threat
Hamilton still "way off" F1 title threat
Lewis Hamilton believes he is still "way off" mounting a challenge for this season's F1 title despite Mercedes taking a giant stride with its troublesome W13 in Spain.
Hamilton and Wolff wrote off their championship prospects earlier in the year when the car displayed a vehement level of porpoising as a result of the new aerodynamic rules that could not be dialled out.
But after five races, the latest upgrades appeared to propel the team back into the mix going into qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya.
Team-mate George Russell managed to claim Mercedes' highest grid slot of the year of fourth, with Hamilton again out-qualified by the younger Briton as he lines up sixth, 0.762s behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
The irony for Mercedes and Hamilton is that despite the improvements on the car in the intervening two weeks since the Miami Grand Prix, for that race he also started sixth behind Leclerc. Then, it was 0.829s adrift, a 0.067s improvement.
Reflecting initially on what has been achieved, Hamilton said: "The team has done such a great job so a big, big, big thank you to everyone continuing to push back at the factory.
"We don't have bouncing in a straight line, which is a huge improvement for us and the car has generally been nicer this weekend.
"We do have some bouncing through the high-speed corners in turns three and nine so we need to keep working away at it, trying to see if we improve on that and gain a little bit more downforce elsewhere.
"I'm a little bit gutted because I want to be further up ahead. We've obviously seen George has been able to put it further ahead so I'll keep pushing."
Hamilton reveals struggles
As to whether the car had offered up a degree of hope he might be able to get back into the championship battle with Leclerc and Red Bull's Max Verstappen, Hamilton added: "I'm not really putting my mind to that. I'm way off.
"My team-mate is fourth so that means the car should be at least third, and I'm sixth.
"I'm still struggling with the car. I don't know how to get around that, or what we're going to do. I'll continue to work hard."
Hamilton conceded he is struggling with the rear-end grip of the car, although is now hoping the car's race pace will thrust him into contention on Sunday.
"Yesterday was the best race pace we've had so if we can start racing with the Ferraris, for example, that would be amazing," assessed Hamilton. "I think the Red Bulls look like they might be quickest but we might be able to compete with the Ferraris tomorrow, and that's a big step for us."
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Hamilton fired serious warning by Wolff as F1 star takes aim at controversial FIA decision - GPFans F1 Recap
- 2 hours ago
F1's quirkiest star begins selling ICE CREAM in latest venture
- 3 hours ago
F1 colleagues UNFOLLOW each other as internal drama cranks up
- Yesterday 21:57
Hamilton 'emotional burden' heading into 2024 season revealed
- Yesterday 21:12
Marko DIRECTLY addresses Verstappen quit rumours
- Yesterday 20:27
Vettel CONFIRMS F1 comeback and reveals what's holding it up
- Yesterday 19:42
- 1
F1 Race Calendar
-
GP BAHRAIN
29 Feb - 2 Mar
Max Verstappen
-
GP SAUDI ARABIA
7 - 9 Mar
Max Verstappen
-
GP AUSTRALIA
22 - 24 Mar
Carlos Sainz
- GP JAPAN 5 - 7 Apr
- GP CHINA 19 - 21 Apr
- GP USA 3 - 6 May
- GP ITALY 17 - 19 May
- GP MONACO 24 - 26 May
Related news
Hamilton 'emotional burden' heading into 2024 season revealed
Hamilton flooded with applications as F1 celebrity pal founds new team
Hamilton relationship 'ENDS' as F1 legend looks for celebrity date
Wolff WARNS Hamilton about Ferrari competitiveness
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