After two wins in three races leading up to the summer break, Lewis Hamilton endured a rather difficult Dutch GP, which started with him getting knocked out of Q2 in qualifying, despite being the fastest in Q1. Mercedes Technical Director James Allision singled out a problem with the W15, which affected the seven-time World champion’s weekend at Zandvoort.
During the post-race debrief, Allison admitted that the W15 was difficult to handle. He repeated what Hamilton had complained about earlier in the season – that the car was on ‘knife’s edge’.
According to Allison, the W15’s setup was too aggressive for their liking. The slightest of slip-ups from either Hamilton or George Russell would have sent the car off the tracks. Both drivers adopted a cautious approach as a result.
“It was just telling us that the car was too much on the nose, too much on a knife edge, too hard to handle. And that was something we paid a price for.”
james allison / race debrief / 2014 dutch gp pic.twitter.com/QpL42oaXAV
— sim’s media (@TeamLHmedia) August 28, 2024
To add to their woes, the rising temperatures of the tires also contributed to the car’s aggressive handling. The lack of long straights at Zandvoort meant there was no opportunity for the rubber to cool down. Constantly under pressure, the tires were close to crossing the temperature limits, which could have spelled disaster for the Mercedes drivers by causing a puncture.
Hamilton finished qualifying in P11 but started from P14 owing to a grid penalty he got from impending Sergio Perez in the session. He made up six places in the race, which showed that he could have finished on the podium had he had a slightly better qualifying.
Nonetheless, the 39-year-old insisted that he could have done a better job than Russell if he was in his place.
Hamilton could have finished higher
Russell started the Dutch GP from P4, and many expected the Briton to contend for a podium finish. Unfortunately, he lost three places and ended the race in P7. After the race, Hamilton declared that he would have finished higher than Russell if he had started from the second row.
“If I qualified where George [Russell] was (in P4) then I think I would have finished at least there, if not further ahead. I think we could have been close to a podium.”
Allison revealed that Hamilton was not comfortable with the W15 during qualifying. However, the seven-time world champion felt better about the car on race day. Unfortunately, this did not translate into much, and he ended up with just four points.
Heading into the Italian GP, Hamilton will be hoping for a much better performance from the W15 and aiming to rejoin the fight for race wins.
