Lewis Hamilton intends on rallying the troops in the coming days, as Mercedes need to improve “now, not in two or three races”.
Mercedes matched their best result of the season at the Australian Grand Prix when George Russell finished on the podium with Hamilton in fourth place.
The Brackley squad’s drivers though were by no means in the fight for the victory, Russell some 25 seconds off the pace despite his P3 result.
Mercedes’ W13 is proving to be a “viper” of a car, that’s according to Hamilton, the car suffering with severe porpoising that means the team is unable to run it as low to the ground as they’d like. That is costing them downforce, and ultimately lap time.
Hamilton intends on spending the time between Melbourne and Imola encouraging everyone at the team, from the team in the factory to the big bosses and even the sponsors.
“There’s a lot of work, and there’ll be a lot of calls, naturally,” he said as per motorsport.com. “I’m on a lot of Zoom calls with all the sponsors and our bosses, really trying to rally them up.
“We’ve got some improvements that we need to make. And we need everyone’s support in doing so, in just making sure we leave no stone unturned.
“It’s in making sure the hunger is really there and we’re maximising absolutely every moment.”
Heads down for the next round. Thanks for the love, Australia ?? pic.twitter.com/JjgOPdM7hq
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) April 11, 2022
He added: “I’m chasing the people that are in the wind tunnel, the aero guys, and just looking at absolutely every single area. There’s performance to be gained in areas that we know.
“And we need it now. Not in two or three races. We all know as a team that we have just got to keep that encouragement and keep that energy high.”
Surprisingly given their troubles Mercedes are second in both championships.
Russell is runner-up in the Drivers’ Championship to Charles Leclerc while Mercedes trail only Ferrari in the teams’ standings. The gaps, though, are big.
Russell is 34 points behind the Ferrari driver, and Mercedes trail the Scuderia by 39 points after just three races.
Hamilton is not losing faith.
“I prefer to stay optimistic,” said the seven-time World Champion. “There are 20 races to go.
“If you think realistically, with the way how the sport goes in terms of everyone’s development, the top teams often develop at a similar pace and similar rate. Will that be the case with this new car? Who knows?
“I’m really, really hoping we can get in the fight soon. But with every bit of improvement we will probably make, [Ferrari] and Red Bull will probably make a similar sort of step, so it’s not going be easy.
“Yes the gap is pretty big right now. But there is a long way to go.”
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