As the final sprint session of the season began in Sao Paulo, both Mercedes cars were strong off the blocks, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell enjoying great starting pace. The duo climbed the ranks to go P4 and P2, respectively, before suffering a significant drop in pace. Lando Norris overtook Russell for P2 while Charles Leclerc and Yuki Tsunoda eased past Hamilton to send him down to P7.
#BrazilGP 🇧🇷 | Lewis Hamilton post-sprint: “It’s gonna be a long afternoon tomorrow, that’s for sure. I can only assume I got the set-up wrong and… it is what it is.”
“I’ll fight as hard as I can but, we won’t be winning, thats for sure.” pic.twitter.com/cpCGdXrLMj
— deni (@fiagirly) November 4, 2023
Meanwhile, both Red Bull cars made easy work of shooing away a Mercedes challenge with the incredible pace. Given the lack of pace from the W14s, neither driver was too happy with the performance. Speaking to the media after the session, as quoted by The Race. Hamilton shined a light on what was the main cause of their poor outing while also pointing out a soon-to-come happy ending.
“The last couple of races we’ve been excited that we’ve been progressing, it’s been really positive to see and we come to another track and then you have the worst deg that you’ve had for ages – so it’s like you don’t know what to expect. But only a couple more races with this car then it’s gone so I’ll be happy.”
After enjoying great outings in Austin and Mexico City, the sprint session in Sao Paulo stood as a major setback for the Silver Arrows and Lewis Hamilton. Having hoped to be on the right track, the team seems to have lost the plot once more, as they chase P2 in the driver’s standings while also trying to cement their P2 status in the constructor’s championship. With only two race weekends left in the season after Brazil, it has become an ‘all or nothing’ situation for the Brackley-based team.
Toto Wolff assessed the situation after the struggles of Lewis Hamilton
With Hamilton suffering more among both Mercedes drivers on track, Toto Wolff spoke about the botched car setup that led to the dismal result. He admitted that the balance of the car was off from the beginning. Wolff added that pushing the car too much in the early stages gave way to extra tire degradation. Hence, the car kept slipping and sliding, and it killed the tires.
💬 “That was a difficult day, but we will do everything we can to improve for tomorrow.”
– Toto pic.twitter.com/8C80UgW3dQ
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) November 4, 2023
Detailing the balance issue, Wolff mentioned they had a very weak rear end, which did not allow them to hold on to the pace. The Austrian concluded by claiming it was a “bruising day” for his team. As the Feature Race inches close, Mercedes’ top priority would be to get the car’s balance right and tweak the rear wing enough so that they can have a much better time on the fast straights and vie for a double podium finish.
However, Wolff understands that they don’t have a “magic screw” they can turn, and it will fix all their issues. With mere hours at their disposal, the team’s engineers have an uphill battle against the clock to figure out a way to deal with the issue and present a car that can reciprocate the results from Mexico City.
