Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton expressed his dismay at the team’s continued decline in performance following Friday’s practice session at the Australian Grand Prix, the third round of the 2022 Formula One season.
The Mercedes team is suffering from a decline in the level of its performance, following its absolute dominance since 2014 and winning all the constructors’ titles since then.
Where the Mercedes team adopted a different design in light of the radical changes in the technical laws for the 2022 season, especially with regard to the design of the car floor and side vents.
These changes resulted in a car that was difficult to handle, with higher traction and lower straight-line speed, with major problems with balance and suffering in terms of rebounds.
At Albert Park, which returns to Formula 1 with a modified track in 2022, Hamilton struggled and was satisfied with 13th in the second practice session.
After testing, Hamilton said: “At the moment, all the changes we’re making are not improving the car’s performance. This is the most difficult challenge we face.”
He continued: “Before the leadership, we are optimistic that the changes we are making will succeed, but that does not happen in the end. We made several adjustments in the second trial class, but the first trials were frankly better. I faced many difficulties in the second practice session, driving this car is very difficult and full of challenges.”
He added, “I don’t think there is anything that can be done. At the same time, I do not think that returning to the competition cycle would be disingenuous, but simply we have to make a great effort, and in the meantime we have to adapt to this car and try to extract its maximum potential.”
Scripture: “That’s the frustrating thing, I keep pushing, giving my best, and in fact my personal best lap was good and flawless, but even so I was slower by 1.2 s away from the lead, this is difficult.”
