2 weeks Ago By Sam Cooper
Lewis Hamilton was left perplexed why there was such a change in the performance of his W15 from FP3 to quali after he finished P6. Hamilton finished P5 in FP3 but more than that he seemed to feel on top of a Mercedes car that had given him problems in Austin. Additional reporting from Elizabeth Blackstock A driver who has raced more than 350 times being caught out going into a corner always seemed unlikely and after Hamilton’s crash in Austin, Toto Wolff said it was down to the car that the seven-time World Champion ended up in the gravel.
Whatever caused that spin looked to have been resolved this weekend in Mexico but Hamilton was again wrestling with the W15 during qualifying. Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com, Hamilton said he thought the car was “on the right track” but then it flipped when they got to quali.
“FP3 felt decent,” he said. “I felt like we were on the right track so I decided not to make any changes. “All we did was put the wing on and I was like ‘okay, let’s leave it there.
’ There’s not really a lot we could do in development, in setup, changes to progress the car forwards, the performance is where it is. “Then we go into qualifying and I had no rear. It just flips on its head.
It’s a very strange thing with the car, but [it will] be interesting to possibly get a reading, because obviously, I’m on the upgraded car which should be quicker. “But we definitely took a good step in FP3 I thought, at least in balance. We were still six tenths off the cars ahead.
We put the bigger wing on to try to get more downforce and it just went slow.” Oscar Piastri explains ‘painful’ Q1 exit with ‘silly mistake’ admission Sergio Perez makes Red Bull data claim after latest Q1 exit Hamilton was also asked if after their recent troubles, the team had at least discovered why the car was acting this way but Hamilton replied that it “sh*ts the bed.” “We’ll get lots of data tomorrow.
I don’t think we’ll compete with the guys ahead. Just see how it goes. I just want to go to the end of the race, at least this time.
“We have free wheeling and the ride height’s moving 15 mils, something like that, up and down and when it does that, it sh*ts the bed basically.” Read next: Mexican GP: Carlos Sainz sets stunning lap to take pole in Mexico.
