Lewis Hamilton ‘looking forward’ to not having to drive troubled Mercedes F1 2022 car
Mercedes have endured a hugely challenging campaign trying to understan🎶d their troubled𒁃 W13 car following a major change of technical regulations over the winter.
The W13 was plagued by porpoising problems at the start of the year and its inconsistent performance has proven to be a source of huge frustration for drivers Hamilton and 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:George Russell.
Mercedes finally scored their first win of the season last time out in Brazil, with Russell leading a 1-2, but the team has struggled for competitiveness at the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with the Yas Marina Circuit exp🔴osing the car’s flaws.
Hamilton was just 0.03s ahead of Russell but nearly seven-tenths off 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Max Verstappen’s pole time, leaving the Mercedes😼 pair occupying the third row of the grid.
"Definitely wasn🎐't expecting to see such a big gap," Hamiltꦇon said after qualifying. “But we are losing 0.6secs on the straight.
“Kind of reminiscent of so💝me of the previous races before - kinda Austin. And bouncing is back, so that's not been easy.”
Hamilton has✱ just Sunday’s grand prix, and a test on Tuesday, to complete before he parts ways with the W13 for good.
"I am looking forward to♛ the end of Tuesday, which is the last time I have to drive this thing,” he laughed. “Don't ever pla♐n to drive this one again. It won't be one of the ones I request to have in my contract.
"We have some downforce. We just need a much more efficient car and everybody i🐠n the team knows exactly what are the problems and where we have gone wrong so I'm pretty confident they are not going to build the next car with any of those characteristics.”
Hamilton’s record on the line
Hamilton has already lost his record of taking at least one pole position in every season he has contested since making his F1 debut in 2007, and the seven-time world champion could see another one of his reꦇcords fall on Sunday.
If Hamilton fails to win in Abu Dhabi, it will mark the first time in his F1 career that he has en💛ded a season winless, though he has repeatedly stressed it is not a statistic that bothers him.
"He says that the one victory a year isn't really a record tha💝t bothers him," Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said on Saturday nigh𒊎t.
"If I'm trying to put myself in his shoes, where I🅘 was befor💙e Brazil, it didn't particularly bother me whether we would win a race this season, because all our eyes are already on next year.
"But having won one, it 🎶felt pretty good. At least nobo🤪dy could say you didn't win a race.
"I don't think this particular record is an important one for hi🔯m, but we need to provide him with a car next year in which he can fight for victories and championships. Th🦩at's most important and he knows that."
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for wuqian0821.com around ♏the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
