At the 2024 Chinese GP, both Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff revealed the “aggressive” experiments they had carried out on the Briton’s W15 in terms of set-up. As described by one of Hamilton’s former aides, Marc Priestley, this was a desperate attempt by Mercedes to try their best to at least register one strong result in the 2024 season.
In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Priestley explained that frustration has crept inside the Mercedes camp, who are just not able to unlock any sort of performance from the W15. Moreover, with Hamilton in his final year with the team, he’s resorted to using the most extreme experiments to figure out ways to improve the pace of the car.
Another hypothesis Priestley had was that Hamilton’s bid to experiment was a way of putting some pressure off his shoulders. The #44 driver is not looking to make excuses for his underperformance so far in comparison to Mercedes teammate George Russell.
However, his continued experimentation could be a reason why Russell has consistently managed to outperform him so far this season. In the aftermath of the Grand Prix that saw Hamilton finish in ninth, Wolff admitted that the setup experiment was indeed a failure. Hamilton himself went as far as calling the car undriveable and extremely slow.
Cracks begin to show at Mercedes after yet another disappointing race weekend
The Chinese GP turned out to be yet another massive disappointment for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes. After the race, Toto Wolff slammed the decision to experiment with Hamilton’s car.
GPBlog quoted the Austrian as saying, “I hear him [Hamilton] saying the car doesn’t turn around the track. This is what we are seeing on the data. It just wasn’t the right thing to do.”
Speaking to ServusTV, Wolff also made comments about Hamilton’s mood change recently. Formula Passion quoted the 52-year-old as saying, “ Lewis is in a surprisingly good mood. I don’t know if it’s the knowledge that he will go somewhere else next year. But it’s not like him at all.”
These little hints that have surfaced after the 2024 Chinese GP seemingly suggest a fallout in the Mercedes camp, especially between Hamilton and Wolff.
