Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes would really like nothing greater than to finish their 12 years collectively on a excessive. Nonetheless, primarily based on latest kind, there’s a very actual danger that their time might 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 is not going to 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 evening.
He added: “Yesterday [Saturday] was horrible. As we speak [Sunday] was horrible. Yesterday was dangerous. Qualifying was dangerous. Dash race was dangerous. The automotive’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 mentioned on the cooldown lap. “That’s the worst the automotive has ever been. However thanks for contributing to strive, and nice job to all the fellows 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 broad of the mark.
And, though it’s not clear precisely what he was referring to, his comment in regards to the pit crew was extra probably a reference to the truth that some personnel had been having their final race look of 2024 in Brazil because of the shuffling round of employees to deal with the extraordinary schedule for triple headers.
The foundation of the issue
Whereas the present performances on the observe aren’t nice, what is probably the most important situation proper now’s that neither Mercedes nor Hamilton had an instantaneous reply after Brazil for what had gone unsuitable, regardless of there being some clear signs.
What’s at play is a repeat of what he has been battling for the reason that summer season break, when his kind 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 automotive, particularly its rear finish.
Because the above graph evaluating the telemetry traces of Hamilton (blue) and Russell (pink) in Q1 on Sunday morning reveals clearly, there’s a exceptional distinction in the best way the drivers had been feeding within the throttle – primarily within the decrease pace corners.
As the underside hint reveals, Russell may improve the accelerator persistently, whereas Hamilton’s insecurity is crystal clear. The unfastened rear finish means he’s continuously having to again off and that leaves him bleeding pace and lap time.
The present era of floor impact equipment are fairly brutal machines – operating 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 situation can shortly present itself into one thing larger and may make two almost an identical vehicles vastly totally different in how they develop over a race stint.
As Mercedes head of trackside engineering Andrew Shovlin defined this week: “It’s truthful to say Lewis was struggling predominantly with an absence of rear grip.
“If we have a look at how he had arrange his automotive, it’s not 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 lengthen the issue.
“As with every race, we spend lots of time digging into the info, making an attempt to grasp it, and Lewis’ engineering crew will likely be working with him on this situation, making an attempt to verify we unravel it earlier than Vegas.”
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG F1 Crew
Picture by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Pictures
Hamilton’s struggles to find a set-up he feels snug with have additionally not been helped a lot by Mercedes’ newest improve that arrived at the USA Grand Prix.
Whereas it seems to have ticked all of the bins in terms of 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 specific weak point the automotive has, in coping with successive low-speed corners, is one thing that has not been improved with the most recent modifications.
Shovlin added: “Now we have not had such good efficiency within the dry, however the points that we’re scuffling with with this replace are the identical as those we had been scuffling with 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 may be lots of turning of the automotive, and that could be a weak point 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 tougher than regular for the staff.
Engaged on an answer
The one constructive for Hamilton proper now’s that a minimum of Russell’s performances present what is feasible with the automotive.
And a few forthcoming high-speed venues, particularly Qatar, may assist higher expose the strengths of the W15 bundle somewhat than its weaknesses.
Hamilton has admitted that issues aren’t simple proper now, however there was no different possibility than to dig deeper along with his staff to attempt to discover a means out of it earlier than Abu Dhabi.
“Clearly, it is devastating to have these dangerous races within the second half of the season,” he mentioned. “However all I can say is, we’re making an attempt.
“But it surely’s positively not acceptable. It is positively not adequate. And we’ve to take accountability. I’ve to take accountability. However I’m driving.; I’m doing one of the best with what I’ve acquired.
“The automotive 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 facility to sit down down with the engineers, and spend time within the simulator yesterday, to attempt to get some solutions as to what’s taking place.
Las Vegas will inform us simply how a lot these efforts have paid off.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15
Picture by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Pictures
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