Mercedes hasn’t had a positive Friday with the new upgrades in Spain. Lewis Hamilton finished the FP3 session in just P11 while his teammate, George Russell, found himself 8th fastest. The car gave the Silver Arrows a ray of hope with positive results in Monaco. However, Hamilton does not seem too enthusiastic about his prospects during qualifying later today. As he delivered the team a reality check, fans couldn’t help but feel sad for him.
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Mercedes was supposed to field its first set of changes in Imola. However, owing to the devastating floods in the Emilia-Romagna region, F1 had to call off the Grand Prix. The team then decided to field the amendments in Monaco despite it not being the ideal circuit to give them a good analysis of their improvements. Nevertheless, the gamble paid off as Hamilton finished the race in P4 while Russell finished right behind him.
Lewis Hamilton unhappy with the upgrades
Mercedes fans expected the team to, at the very least, be able to compete against the likes of Aston Martin when the upgrades came in. However, until now, they are nowhere close to that. While the results in Monaco were appreciable, the lap timings from the first two practice sessions in Spain point towards a worrisome upcoming qualifying and main race.
Reuters
Formula One F1 – Australian Grand Prix – Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia – April 2, 2023 Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton before the race REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Hamilton referred to exactly that in his recent comments. “I think from the pace that I have today, it’s a struggle for me currently to get into top ten,” Motorsport.com quoted him as saying. “But hopefully, we’ll do some changes overnight.”
“I think it’s very, very close between us in that P5 back to P10 [position]. It’s impressive to see the improvements that everyone seems to have made all around us.”
“If we look at [Esteban] Ocon, the Alpines are doing great. We saw the Aston Martin is second right behind the Red Bull, which is really, really impressive. So it’s not going to be easy, that’s for sure.”
Take a look at how fans reacted to Hamilton’s depressing assessment.
This is so depressing 😞
#SpanishGP 🇪🇸: Lewis Hamilton: “I think from the pace that I have today, it's a struggle for me currently to get into top ten [in qualifying]. But hopefully, we'll do some changes overnight. I think it's very, very close between us in that P5 back to P10 [position].”
Let's call it a season folks 😭
#SpanishGP 🇪🇸: Lewis Hamilton: “I think from the pace that I have today, it's a struggle for me currently to get into top ten [in qualifying]. But hopefully, we'll do some changes overnight. I think it's very, very close between us in that P5 back to P10 [position].”
So everyone else Literally everyone else Can fix their car Except for Mercedes?????
#SpanishGP 🇪🇸: Lewis Hamilton: “I think from the pace that I have today, it's a struggle for me currently to get into top ten [in qualifying]. But hopefully, we'll do some changes overnight. I think it's very, very close between us in that P5 back to P10 [position].”
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Mentally clocking out for the rest of the season is the best decision we can make atm
#SpanishGP 🇪🇸: Lewis Hamilton: “I think from the pace that I have today, it's a struggle for me currently to get into top ten [in qualifying]. But hopefully, we'll do some changes overnight. I think it's very, very close between us in that P5 back to P10 [position].”
Do you think Mercedes can improve enough overnight, as Hamilton said, to put him and Russell in top 5?