Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s Efforts Aren’t Enough as Toto Wolff Calls for Harder Work Before Imola Upgrades

Mercedes’ weekend in Miami did not turn out the way they wanted it to, with the W14’s pace being inconsistent throughout. Lewis Hamilton had a woeful qualifying session, finishing P13, but he made up for it in the race, charging up the field to finish P6. George Russell, his teammate meanwhile, finished P4 but was far behind Fernando Alonso, who finished P3. Toto Wolff wants the entire team to work harder now, ahead of their outing in Imola in two weeks.

Hamilton and Russell lacked the pace during qualifying, which they made up for in the race, but Wolff wants to look at it from a different perspective. He wants the team’s overall pace to improve, as they bring in upgrades ahead of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

“We are glass-half-empty people,” said Wolff to Sky Sports. “I don’t want to go to anyone and saying we’re half a second quicker. And in the middle of a fight, we’re not.”

Lewis Hamilton puts behind his poor qualifying performance

Hamilton struggled immensely to find pace in his W14 on Saturday, and could not make it past Q2. Hamilton’s failure to enter the final qualifying session came as a shock, which showed how inconsistent Mercedes is currently.

However, the seven-time world champion was able to shake that off, with a brilliant race. Hamilton started the race from 13th but was able to find his way up the field to finish in P6, which was a great result, all things considered.

On the team radio after the race, Hamilton admitted that they went through a bad weekend. Regardless, he was happy to leave the Miami International Autodrome with a strong points haul. The message he conveyed on his team radio was shared on Twitter by Mercedes-AMG F1 News. 

Lewis over team-radio: “Tough one, guys, but we still got some points. Thank you for the continued efforts. Super proud of you. Let’s keep pushing.”

— Mercedes-AMG F1 News ✇ (@MercedesNewsUK) May 7, 2023

Mercedes set to find pace with upgrades arriving in Imola

F1 returns to an all-time classic circuit in two weeks when the drivers visit Imola for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. At the start of the season, when Mercedes was already struggling for performance, it was revealed that they would bring upgrades to the car in Imola.

“Great job this weekend, guys.” 💪 pic.twitter.com/v9ajzKEfGw

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) May 7, 2023

These upgrades are set to help Russell and  Hamilton, as Mercedes look to close the gap to Aston Martin in the constructors’ standings. However, Mercedes isn’t the only team set to bring upgrades to Imola. Ferrari too, will bring in upgrades that should improve their performance at their first home race of the year.