Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were encouraged by the performance of their Mercedes after the team brought its latest upgrade package for this weekend’s race.
Although it remains to be seen whether Mercedes will continue to run all of the new parts they brought to the Circuit of the Americas after practice, Russell is confident they will be within range of pace-setters Ferrari and Red Bull in qualifying.“I think we’ll be okay,” he said after second practice today. “We should hopefully be in Q3 and fighting for those top six positions.
“I’d like to think that we’ll be ahead of the midfield cars this weekend. But I’ve learnt in this sport to take nothing for granted. So we’re going to work as hard as we can overnight, try and make sure we’ve got a fast car. Pole is always a stretch for us but the race is on Sunday so I think we’ve got a half chance.”
Hamilton thanked the team for bringing its final upgrade of the year to the race, including changes to the front and rear wings as well as the floor. Only two other teams have brought new parts for their cars at this late stage in the season.
“Everything went to plan,” Hamilton said after Friday’s practice sessions. “I’m super-grateful to everyone back to the factory for working so hard and bringing us an upgrade this weekend.
“It’s been a tough year for everyone at the factory and for them to continuously be pushing and keeping their heads down and really putting out these new pieces, I’m super-grateful.”
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The latest upgrades for the W13 have paid off, said Hamilton, although the team’s opportunity to test it was limited by the mandatory tyre testing being conducted in Friday’s second session.
“I kept the car in one piece today, which is good, and definitely felt improvements in the car,” he said. “Obviously this was a bit of a waste of a session in terms of performance but P1 was feeling quite good.
“I’m hoping we make some changes tonight and we’ll find out tomorrow exactly where we stand. But it doesn’t feel like we’re too far away from everyone.”
However he admitted the bumpy Circuit of the Americas exacerbated the worst quality of the W13 – its punishing ride. He described the track’s bumps as “horrible”.
“I came here after Montreal and I drove last year’s car and it was so good,” he said. “I remember getting out and just beaming from ear to ear because it was so smooth and had good downforce, good power – this year obviously we lost a bit of power with the [switch to E10] biofuels.
“The car is so stiff now. Coming and driving the car, luckily I don’t actually have many fillings because if I did they would have all come out this year, for sure. It’s just so, so bumpy. I’m really praying for a non-bumpy car next year.”
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2022 United States Grand Prix
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Moi
22nd October 2022, 10:14
I thought FIA had maximum-amount-of-bouncing-rules now? You know, after Mercedes asked for new regulations?
slowmo (@slowmo)
22nd October 2022, 10:31
No they just stipulated a maximum bouncing limit with mandatory requirement to raise the car to comply. Next year there are changes planned to make porpoising less likely.