Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes would really like nothing greater than to finish their 12 years collectively on a excessive.
Nonetheless, based mostly on latest type, there’s a very actual danger that their time could end not with a bang, however with a whimper.
If issues proceed like they did in Brazil final weekend, the place Hamilton certified 14th and completed tenth whereas team-mate George Russell began on the entrance row and fought for the win, then there won’t be a lot to smile about when the curtain comes down in Abu Dhabi.
Hamilton’s personal verdict after the Brazilian Grand Prix was fairly damning, as he labelled the race as “crap” on Sunday night time.
He added: “Yesterday [Saturday] was horrible. At present [Sunday] was horrible. Yesterday was dangerous. Qualifying was dangerous. Dash race was dangerous. The automobile’s simply been dangerous all weekend.”
He additional fuelled intrigue in regards to the scale of the struggles enveloping him as he delivered a cryptic message over the radio straight after the chequered flag.
“That was a catastrophe of a weekend, guys,” he stated on the cooldown lap. “That’s the worst the automobile has ever been. However thanks for contributing to strive, and nice job to all the blokes on the pitstop.
“If that is the final time I get to carry out it was a disgrace it wasn’t nice – however grateful for you.”
Some interpreted these feedback as a revelation that Brazil was going to be Hamilton’s final race, though that’s actually huge of the mark.
And, though it isn’t clear precisely what he was referring to, his comment in regards to the pit crew was extra seemingly a reference to the truth that some personnel have been having their final race look of 2024 in Brazil as a result of shuffling round of workers to deal with the extreme schedule for triple headers.
The foundation of the issue
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15
Photograph by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Pictures
Whereas the present performances on the observe are usually not nice, what is maybe the most important problem proper now’s that neither Mercedes nor Hamilton had a direct reply after Brazil for what had gone flawed, regardless of there being some clear signs.
What’s at play is a repeat of what he has been battling because the summer season break, when his type took a giant dip from that spell in July when he took two wins from three races.
Primarily, the issue seems to be about Hamilton having a insecurity within the automobile, particularly its rear finish.
Because the above graph evaluating the telemetry traces of Hamilton (blue) and Russell (pink) in Q1 on Sunday morning exhibits clearly, there’s a outstanding distinction in the best way the drivers have been feeding within the throttle – primarily within the slower pace corners.
As the underside hint exhibits, Russell may enhance the accelerator persistently, whereas Hamilton’s insecurity is crystal clear. The free rear finish means he’s always having to again off – and that leaves him bleeding pace and lap time.
The present era of ground-effect equipment are fairly brutal machines – working tremendous stiff and tremendous near the bottom – and they don’t seem to be very forgiving when driving on the sting.
Some drivers are higher suited to beat an unpredictable steadiness, however Hamilton is discovering himself put a bit extra on the again foot by it.
And usually, when a driver loses religion within the rear finish, it slides extra – and that then compounds tyre temperature points.
So what begins out as a small problem can shortly present itself into one thing greater and may make two almost an identical automobiles vastly completely different in how they develop over a race stint.
As Mercedes head of trackside engineering Andrew Shovlin defined this week: “It’s honest to say Lewis was struggling predominantly with an absence of rear grip.
“If we have a look at how he had arrange his automobile, it isn’t apparent the place that was coming from.
“However within the dash race, as quickly as you’ve got much less grip and you’re getting the snaps of oversteer on exit, you generate extra temperature. That in itself will delay the issue.
“As with every race, we spend quite a lot of time digging into the information, attempting to know it, and Lewis’ engineering crew will likely be working with him on this problem, attempting to verify we resolve it earlier than Vegas.”
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG F1 Crew
Photograph by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Pictures
Hamilton’s struggles find a set-up he feels comfy with have additionally not been helped a lot by Mercedes’ newest improve that arrived at america Grand Prix.
Whereas it seems to have ticked all of the bins with regards to ship additional efficiency on observe, there are some questions on it additionally including some behavioural instability as properly – as was witnessed by Hamilton’s race exit in Austin a day after George Russell’s qualifying crash.
And a selected weak spot the automobile has, in coping with successive low-speed corners, is one thing that has not been improved with the most recent modifications.
Shovlin added: “We have now not had such good efficiency within the dry, however the points that we’re fighting with this replace are the identical as those we have been fighting earlier than.
“The place we are typically weak, it’s within the sluggish pace corners, significantly those the place you’ve got one nook following into one other. There’s quite a lot of turning of the automobile, and that may be a weak spot that we have to work on.”
With sector two of Interlagos being just about all about interconnected sluggish corners, it was apparent that the Brazil occasion was going to doubtlessly be harder than regular for the staff.
Engaged on an answer
The one optimistic for Hamilton proper now’s that no less than Russell’s performances present what is feasible with the automobile.
And a few forthcoming high-speed venues, particularly Qatar, may assist higher expose the strengths of the W15 package deal relatively than its weaknesses.
Hamilton has admitted that issues are usually not straightforward proper now, however there was no different possibility than to dig deeper along with his staff to attempt to discover a manner out of it earlier than Abu Dhabi.
“Clearly, it is devastating to have these dangerous races within the second half of the season,” he stated. “However all I can say is, we’re attempting.
“But it surely’s positively not acceptable. It is positively not ok. And we now have to take accountability. I’ve to take accountability. However I’m driving.; I’m doing one of the best with what I’ve obtained.
“The automobile has been the worst this weekend, and I do not know what it’s. We will have to search out out what it’s.”
That work started for Hamilton this week with some intense work on the manufacturing unit to sit down down with the engineers, and spend time within the simulator yesterday, to attempt to get some solutions as to what’s occurring.
Las Vegas will inform us simply how a lot these efforts have paid off.
Further reporting by Gianluca D’Alessandro
