Lewis Hamilton is convinced Mercedes’ W15 has real potential but says the team must work out how to unlock it.
He and team mate George Russell were in the top five during final practice for the previous round, but couldn’t replicate that performance in qualifying. Russell took seventh on the grid while Hamilton failed to reach Q3.
His disappointing weekend in Melbourne ended when his power unit failed on the 16th lap of the grand prix. Despite that point-less result, which leaves him 10th in the championship, Hamilton insisted “I definitely do feel more optimistic about this car.”
“Obviously in the first couple of races, there’s been small showings of the car feeling great and we would have pace for a moment and then it kind of disappears,” he told the official F1 channel. “So there’s definitely performance there. We just need to work on making this car more consistent and easier to drive.”
Mercedes lie fourth in the standings after the opening three rounds, one point ahead of Aston Martin.
Hamilton, who hasn’t won a grand prix since the penultimate round of 2021 and is due to move to Ferrari at the end of this year, said he remains focused on helping the team solve the problems with its current car.
“Ultimately if you dwell on difficult times then there’s only one way you’re going,” he said. “I think it’s really good to be able to unplug and reset your focus on your goals moving forwards. And so I have a few of these things.
“But still the ultimate thing that keeps me up at night is when we’re to be fighting for wins again. What can I do different? What can I do better in the car? How can I improve in qualifying? How can I deliver more for the team? What different set-up things could we take?
“So those things still keep you up. But we win and we lose this team, we’re very united, everyone’s working incredibly hard, so I’ve just got to continue at it.”
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