Mercedes "pedal to the metal" in quest for victory - Hamilton
Mercedes "pedal to the metal" in quest for victory - Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton has insisted Mercedes will remain "pedal to the metal" in its quest for victories this season.
The Silver Arrows have failed to win in the first half of an F1 season for the first time since 2011 as the team fights to get back into competition with Red Bull and Ferrari at the top of the constructors' standings.
Hamilton and George Russell have consistently found themselves on the podium in recent times but the gap to the top two teams remains sizeable, particularly in qualifying.
The season reflects Hamilton's troublesome 2009 campaign at McLaren, with the Woking-based team struggling during a rule change after a closely-fought championship battle the year before.
Addressing the 2009 season, Hamilton said: "I remember arriving in February or January I think it was, coming back from winter training and I remember walking along or being in a meeting with the guys and they're like, yeah we've already hit pretty hard our downforce target.
"And I remember back then they said that from their interpretation, it was 50% less downforce than the previous year. And they're like, yeah, we've already hit targets and I remember being wow, really? That means you've probably not set it high enough and I remember getting in the car in Portimão I think it was and it was horrendous to drive.
"It was the worst car that I had driven apart from the engine was good, but I was three wheeling everywhere, the wheel was coming up massively.
"So I remember the struggles of that year, qualifying 15th or whatever it was in the first race and then just continuously chipping away."
On the improvements made during the season to help get back to winning ways that year, Hamilton added: "I remember getting a big upgrade at Nürburgring and the radio… they only had one kit and because I was ahead on points, I think it was, I got the upgrade and I remember going through Turn 6 and 7, it was the first time we could take it flat.
"And I remember I accidentally had the radio on and I made this whoo-hoo kind of noise and they played it back to the guys back in the factory and then we got our first win in Budapest."
Mercedes "pedal to the metal"
Now seven-time champion Hamilton is playing a vital part of Mercedes' fightback alongside team-mate Russell, with the team constantly experimenting with set-ups and upgrades to claw its way back to the top.
"This year, at the start a season, very, very similar [to 2009] when we were in February sitting down in the room, it looks like a glorious… the set-up… we’d got a lot of performance on the car, a lot of confidence, like, yeah, the car’s going to be good," explained Hamilton.
"Then you get in the thing and it was bouncing and it's taken us a long time to fix that, taken a lot of performance off that car to enable it to stop bouncing.
"But I would say this experience is just an… it’s impressive to see a group of people just continuously not giving up, what you see within these teams.
"I think we haven't made that big step that we made in 2009 to enable us perhaps to win in Budapest but who knows?
"We’re not giving up, we're staying pedal to the metal. It's a hot race there. Maybe our car will be good, maybe we can be closer to these guys.
"I hope so, so much, because I love that track. So I hope the car feels good there."
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Chinese Grand Prix Sprint 2024 results: Hamilton gets best result of year as Ferraris CLASH
- 17 minutes ago
F1 Chinese Grand Prix weather forecast - latest today from Shanghai
- 59 minutes ago
Hamilton dealt China blow after major FIA decision as Ricciardo given huge Horner warning - GPFans F1 Recap
- Yesterday 23:57
F1 team unveil star-studded lineup in China
- Yesterday 23:12
F1 Qualifying Today: Chinese Grand Prix 2024 start times, schedule and TV
- Yesterday 22:27
Horner delivers threat to Ricciardo over Red Bull pressure
- Yesterday 21:57
Related news
Wolff left FUMING with Mercedes despite amazing Hamilton lap
Wolff 'p*****' by Verstappen error as star makes Mercedes debut
Hamilton to open Wolff talks at Mercedes amid Ferrari F1 move uncertainty
Mercedes announce MAJOR £5.9 million loss in profits
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