F1 News: Lewis Hamilton caught on team radio complaining about Mercedes issue

Mercedes, Hamilton, socials — Photo: © IMAGO

Bahrain Grand Prix

Hamilton caught on team radio complaining about Mercedes issue

The seven-time world champion suffered an unusual problem

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 2 March 2024 16:25 Updated: 17:25

The Bahrain Grand Prix didn't work out quite as Lewis Hamilton had hoped, with his Mercedes clearly slower than the Red Bulls and Ferraris, and on pace with the McLarens.

Approaching the halfway point in the race, the Brit also took to his radio to complain about the seat in his cockpit breaking.

It summed up what had been a pretty troublesome opening few laps for the Mercedes team, with George Russell losing a position and both drivers complaining of overheating issues with their cars.

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Hamilton has been running with a new seat position in his Mercedes W15 car, and had been quite optimistic about how he felt in the car, despite qualifying ninth on Friday.

Lewis Hamilton struggled in the early stages of the Bahrain Grand Prix

Toto Wolff had been fairly optimistic about Mercedes' new W15 car

Mercedes' nightmare start to 2024

Russell, meanwhile, would have been expecting to challenge for a podium position having started in third, but couldn't keep up with the likes of Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez.

That made for a pretty miserable start to the season-opening Bahrain GP for Mercedes' new W15, then, with Hamilton clearly not happy with what will be his final Mercedes car.

Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Sergio Perez Carlos Sainz George Russell Toto Wolff