Lewis Hamilton said he was behind an aggressive set-up change on his Mercedes which led to his poor performance in the Chinese Grand Prix.
He finished Saturday’s sprint race second to Max Verstappen after qualifying on the front row of the grid in a rain-affected session. However after taking advantage of the new opportunity to make set-up changes between the sprint race and grand prix qualifying, Hamilton admitted he took a wrong turn.“Ultimately, I made a bad set-up change to the car yesterday and I paid the price for it,” he said. “I plan to make sure I don’t do that in the future.”
Hamilton qualified 18th for the grid prix. From there, having initially struggled to make progress on the soft tyres, he rose to finish ninth.
“I went forwards and got into the points, but it was a tough race,” he added.
“The car does seem to work in a small window, and I did think it was the correct thing to do. Sadly, it made today very difficult. The team did a great job with the pit stops though and George [Russell] did well to score some solid points.”
Russell rose two places from his starting position to finish sixth, which he said was “probably a fair” result.
Hamilton repeatedly complained about his car’s handling during the race. Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said they were pleased to finish in the top 10 after his difficult start to the race.
“Lewis’s race wasn’t easy as he didn’t gain much off the line on the soft tyre,” he said. “He then got stuck in a traffic jam on the inside line around turn two and lost to cars on the wide line.
“We had made some changes to his car after the sprint and clearly they weren’t didn’t improve the car. It made qualifying and the race difficult. He was struggling to turn the car and having to use the power to do so, which was hurting the rear tyres.
“We decided to pit him under the Virtual Safety Car to offset to other cars, but most of our competitors did the same once the Safety Car was deployed. We benefitted from a couple of cars dropping out ahead but, considering the early part of the race, it was a relief to get some points.”
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Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st April 2024, 14:51
Not the first time he changes setup and it goes in the wrong direction in recent times, I have to say; decent race though, was always gonna be hard to score more than a few points with this car starting from the back.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
21st April 2024, 14:57
1. Bono mentioned it should be forgotten, I would say, probably not, because there is something to learn from why that ever happened in the first place, if not for Lewis’ sake.
2. The fact that the team runs so much risk and is unable to curtail/nail it down before it spirals out of control says that the guy or gal who is directing strategy/executing/managing risk is not doing their job. There should be controls for managing last minute changes and stops in place to keep individuals from sabotaging proper execution/planning.
3. This is a culture problem, one that leadership needs to address, just like the simulation issues that don’t ever correlate with reality. Time to cut the cruft.
BMW P85 V10
21st April 2024, 16:50
You could also bring to the debate that Lewis might not be that good in setting up a car or explaining wat he needs to go faster.
MadMax (@madmax)
21st April 2024, 17:45
facts prove you wrong. but yeah, bmw matches well with the detractors mentality. fan of some orange bully, maybe?
MadLewis
21st April 2024, 21:29
Orange bully allready 4 winst out of 5 😘
MadMax (@madmax)
22nd April 2024, 5:28
half of the field would have the same in that car
Kata
23rd April 2024, 2:45
If half of the field could do that the guys at RBR are plain stupid then to give so much money to Max and his entourage.
Even Toto is vocal about the fact that he would like Max to come and race for the Merc. team. He could also save a lot of money if he contracted some of the “half of the field” drivers instead of Max…
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
22nd April 2024, 5:45
@madmax
How exactly. LH clearly admits his input led to poor set-up on this occasion. And he has stated several times that he and GR have diverged when GR has been ahead.
MadMax (@madmax)
22nd April 2024, 15:30
So this one occasion means, he might not be that good setting up a car. Stupid conclusion, like to say, Verstappen cant drive in the wet, just because he messed up the sprint qualy.
Craig
21st April 2024, 23:33
Or it could be the car is horribly unpredictable and neither driver nor team is really sure what to do to get the most out of it consistently.
David BR (@david-br)
21st April 2024, 15:26
I don’t get it. Hamilton still seems convinced that some magical change to the setup will ‘unlock the potential’ of the 5th fastest car on the grid. He’s wasting his time. The Mercedes power unit seems uncompetitive and the handling is poor, adjusting one way ruins performance in other areas. I think it would be seriously better for everyone if he took a sabbatical for the rest of the season, let Mercedes put in another driver to gain experience while Hamilton refreshes for his Ferrari debut next year. Obviously won’t happen for a thousand reasons. Just saying it’d be better for all concerned.
M2X
21st April 2024, 22:46
How can you say that the engine seems uncompetitive while Alonso is capable of keeping Ferrari’s and Honda’s with DRS from passing him on some of the longest straights on the calendar?
Mark (@mrcento)
22nd April 2024, 1:52
I’d argue the engine is probably the only bit of the car they’ve really got right, if you consider 2 customer teams that don’t have the works advantage for installations and packaging decisions are managing to not only fight for podiums despite that disadvantage, but are consistently quicker than the works team who do have that advantage.
Mayrton
22nd April 2024, 6:45
You can’t really blame him. His frame of reference is based on a history in which his team could change something simple (beast mode) which would result in him being able to pass everyone.
Bill
21st April 2024, 15:42
Lewis has had a recent history of making bad setup choices and destroying the team’s race. He goes out of his way to tell everyone his poor results have nothing to do with him. Today, at least he finally owned up to it. We get tired of him announcing and moaning on the radio about how bad the car is and how everyone has better cars. Most drivers on the grid deal with underperforming cars every year. Lewis has been handed more fastest cars in the history of F1 and has developed this sense of entitlement. Face what other drivers face every season and show what you can do. Start by at least beating your own teammate. The other problem with Lewis is if he doesn’t have the best car, he sulks and wants to throw in the towel. After the first races in 2022, he said he would rather go home! He has a history of blaming the team or bashing the design of the car (“they don’t listen to me”) even when he has no clue how to design a modern aero car. When they do make changes to suit him, he complains more. He wanted a long-term contract from Mercedes and wanted a contract that extended beyond his driving days. Mercedes told him no, so he has now bolted. Let’s see how Ferrari handles this entitled moaner if they don’t gift him with the top car.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
22nd April 2024, 12:10
He didn’t have the fastest car in 2008 (Ferrari did), 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 or 2013 and I can’t recall him “sulking”.
If you’re going to castigate him, at least try and present some facts – as opposed to clearly showing you dislike him personally, which is always the most unprofessional motive for someone who doesn’t know a person.
MadMax (@madmax)
22nd April 2024, 15:32
the stupidity of the armchair
RR
21st April 2024, 15:47
Let’s follow Russell on set-up in Miami and see how it goes, shall we?
DaveW (@dmw)
21st April 2024, 16:25
Mercedes full of ausreden now but what difference does it make. The goal is not to finish 6 instead of 7 or even to beat Russell. Hamilton doesn’t have anything to prove and the aim is to find some magic set up to unlock the performance the preseason data said is there.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
21st April 2024, 20:46
in Lewis defense, it worked for him in 2022, in that he was best of the rest in 23′
Edvaldo
21st April 2024, 22:29
He’s probably just trying to do something more than just coasting to what they expect the car to do, but the car is very weak, there’re no magic to be made there.