It was a rejuvenated Mercedes team last week where the drivers took to the track in Singapore. Despite the weekend ending in heartbreak for George Russell, Lewis Hamilton capped off a positive weekend for the Silver Arrows with a P3 finish. Just when hopes were getting high for a Mercedes revival, the team hit a snag during FP1 in Japan. Upon conclusion of the less-than-satisfactory session, Hamilton made a startling revelation, as quoted by X (formerly Twitter) user Junaid #JB17.
The first practice session was far from ideal for Mercedes as Hamilton’s best lap time stood at 1:33.699, which meant he had the 16th-best pace among 20 cars. Russell did not fare much better as he ran a time of 1:33.310 and finished FP1 in P13.
The next session was much better for Russell, who improved his time by nearly two seconds to finish P5. Meanwhile, Hamilton also improved, but only slightly, as he finished P14 in FP2. Given such a major lack of pace in comparison to Singapore, expectations from Mercedes aren’t running high unless the Silver Arrows are bluffing.
Lewis Hamilton has a worrying revelation for Mercedes
Coming off a strong weekend in Singapore, where Hamilton finished P3 after Russell‘s crash on Turn 10 in the final lap, expectations were high to have a four-way battle for the podium places. However, Mercedes’ lack of pace suggests they might already be out of contention. Furthermore, X User Junaid #JB17 quotes Hamilton over a difficult day at the track, suggesting it might not be a great weekend for the Brackley-based team.
“It was a very challenging day for us out there. I had a lack of confidence in the car and that contributed to our struggles. It was difficult to find the right balance and we didn’t manage to get on top of it by the end of FP2.”
Despite the team’s struggles and his lack of confidence, Hamilton is still optimistic of a turnaround once racing begins. The 7-time world champion recalled having similar Fridays often this season, but they have always come back stronger for the next day’s qualifying session.
An improvement is also the need of the hour for Mercedes as third-placed Ferrari continues to close the gap on them.
Ferrari close to taking second place away from Mercedes
With Red Bull set to retain their constructor’s championship, it is now all about who can be the second-best team on the grid. As Aston Martin slacks off, the race is between Ferrari and Mercedes. The Brackley-based team has the advantage and sits in second place with 289 points.
However, Ferrari isn’t too far behind, as the gap between them and Mercedes is a mere 24 points. Suzuka might witness a shuffle in rankings, with Mercedes struggling while Ferrari continues to thrive.
Constructor standings 🥇🥈🥉#f1nations #F1 #Formula1 #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/wLmgkppULF
— F1 Nations (@f1_nations) September 17, 2023
In both practice sessions, the Ferrari cars finished P2 and P4, with Sainz ranking higher in the first session while Leclerc out-ranked the Singapore GP winner in FP2. However, McLaren might play spoilsport to Ferrari’s plans as they look to sport the fastest version of their car in Suzuka. No matter who wins the race, Mercedes’ primary goal in Suzuka would be to not let Ferrari outscore them in the race.
