Lewis Hamilton has now shared his honest thoughts about the upgrade package that Mercedes have taken to the Miami GP, ahead of the second Sprint weekend of 2024.
The 39-year-old is enduring the worst start to a season he has stomached in Formula 1 after five rounds. Hamilton has not finished a Grand Prix higher than the seventh place he sealed in Bahrain at the opening race. Only 19 points even leave him ninth in the drivers’ standings.
Hamilton also scored seven of his points in the F1 Sprint at the Chinese GP last time out with P2. The seven-time champion also qualified on the front row before Hamilton pushed Lando Norris wide for the lead. But the Mercedes icon did not replicate his result in the Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton is enduring his worst start to a season as a Formula 1 driver
Mercedes and Hamilton made radical changes to his set-up for the Chinese GP that left him qualifying in P18 after locking up on his final flying lap in Q1. Issues getting the soft tyre into a working range also delayed his progress before, ultimately, taking a third P9 of the season.
Meanwhile, teammate George Russell finished the Chinese GP in P6 after he qualified in P8. It marked the 26-year-old’s joint second-best result this year with the Saudi Arabian GP after claiming P5 in the Bahrain GP. But Russell only ranks seventh in the standings with 33 points.
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Red Bull (195), Ferrari (151) and McLaren (96) have each scored more points than Mercedes (52) so far this term. So, the Silver Arrows have pushed through an upgrade package for this weekend’s Miami GP. The Brackley team hope it helps to improve the W15’s balance issues.
Lewis Hamilton expects a ‘challenging’ Miami GP despite Mercedes’ upgrades
Mercedes technical director James Allison detailed on the team’s YouTube channel after the Chinese GP that they will have upgrades at the Miami GP which the Silver Arrows ‘hope’ will ‘rectify the underlying balance’ problem that is proving frustrating for Hamilton and Russell.
Hamilton has also now shared his hope for the impact of Mercedes’ upgrades for the Miami GP. But while the Stevenage-born star is ‘excited’ to see what improvements they will afford the Silver Arrows, Hamilton still predicts a challenging weekend around Hard Rock Stadium.
“The team have been working hard,” Hamilton noted in the press conference on Thursday. “We’ve got an upgrade here, a small upgrade, this weekend. So, [I am] excited to see [the] developments coming through.
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“I think, hopefully, we’ll have a car in a bit of a better working window. So, no doubt it will still be a challenge. But [I am] really excited to be here in the States.
“The weather is incredible. It’s going to be a challenge for temperatures and tyre deg and all that sort of stuff. But, yeah, we welcome it.”
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