Lewis Hamilton claims Mercedes will be lucky to have the car on four wheels before the start of the Bahrain GP race this weekend.
Mercedes claims to be lagging behind the whole grid ahead of the next season. They evidently had a massive difficulty with the porpoising, and it is affecting their development ahead.
Moreover, the car also gave unsatisfactory numbers during the preseason testing. However, Mercedes is known for sandbagging and not showing their full colours before the start of the season.
Even Lewis Hamilton is known for contributing to their every year sandbagging. This time Hamilton admits that he downplays Mercedes’ strengths before the season.
But he asserts that this time Mercedes is genuinely struggling and would be lucky to have four wheels, brakes and a steering wheel in time for the first race of the 2022 season.
“I know I say this every year but honestly man we are so far behind,” Hamilton told The Race. “Honesty man, at this stage I’ll be incredibly surprised if we even have a car with 4 wheels for Bahrain. You know, maybe by Monaco if we’re really lucky.”
Also read: Lewis Hamilton explains why Mercedes will take four races to tame
Lewis Hamilton is interested in Haas
When asked about his thoughts about Red Bull and Ferrari’s thumping display in Bahrain. Hamilton snubbed them and instead said he is curious about what Alpha Tauri and Haas are up to.
“Honestly I’m more interested to see what Haas and Alpha are up to,” Hamilton said while circling Mick Schumacher’s Haas VF-22. “Yep just as I thought. 4 wheels too.”
“Man, this is going to be such a competitive grid this year,” Hamilton said, shaking his head at the Mercedes garage. “We really should get started on the engine at the very least.”
Haas also gave some impressive numbers this year’s testing, contrary to their condition last year. Kevin Magnussen, who replaced Nikita Mazepin at Haas at the last minute, was leading the charts by the end of the day two testing.
What to expect from Mercedes?
According to the F1 commentator, Mercedes aren’t sandbagging this year and have some genuine problems. Though he also believes by the completion of six races, the viewers will witness a different Mercedes.
Meaning they could well and good be at the top of the table by the end of the half of the season. Nevertheless, after witnessing Mercedes’ exploits for over eight years, it would be stupidity to believe their words before they actually falter.
Also read: Lewis Hamilton will change his name to include his mother’s surname Larbalestier
