Lewis Hamilton once again had a poor day at work during the qualifying round of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Extending his ordeal since Bahrain, the seven-time world champion finished P8 on Saturday.
Though, Charles Leclerc’s 10-place grid penalty would allow him to see a promotion on the grid to P7 for the race start. However, it’s still not a good enough result for the Briton, who dominated the whole grid only a few years ago.
With the car not extracting results for him, Hamilton is now being blunt about his criticism towards W14. He revealed to Skysports in Saudi Arabia that he doesn’t feel connected to his car.
Lewis Hamilton talks about how the car isn’t right
During the post-qualifying interview, the seven-time world champion claimed, “I just don’t feel connected to this car.” Therefore, rejecting all the efforts made by the factory this year and announcing that the drivers can do little with the resources in their hands.
“I just don’t feel connected to this car”
Lewis Hamilton reflects on his qualifying session and says ‘he’ll give it everything’ on race day 👇 pic.twitter.com/SxHcTs7BMA
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 18, 2023
However, he is still eyeing to get the maximum out of the car even if they can’t go for a win. “I don’t know, I’ll try and show up with a positive mindset and give it another shot,” said Hamilton.
Hamilton, over the weekend, has critiqued the work of Mercedes over the winter. He even claimed that he knew the car wasn’t right when he first saw the W14 before the season started.
Toto Wolff expected this but can see matching Ferrari’s pace
While Hamilton finished P8, his teammate George Russell finished P4 in the final qualifying result. When asked about Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff’s reaction to it, he claims he expected such a result.
He also admits that his team needs to progress over the following races in the season and reduce the gap. However, he also revealed that he thinks the Silver Arrows could match Ferrari in the race pace.
Meanwhile, he also took a cheeky dig at Red Bull. He joked Max Verstappen deliberately retired so that his team could flex by winning from the back.
