Lewis Hamilton’s Chinese GP weekend, which started on a good note with his P2 in the sprint turned out to be a nightmare. He qualified in P18 and struggled to get past the weaker cars on the grid during the race. After the outing, the seven-time world champion admitted to making mistakes that he will never repeat in the future.
Hamilton already won six races at the Shanghai International Circuit previously, so this wasn’t unfamiliar territory for him. His struggles in qualifying were even more baffling because of his good performances in the sprint just a day before. Hamilton, however, had an explanation for the same.
The 39-year-old chose the wrong set-up for his car which ruined his weekend. “I made the wrong decision with the setup. I’m not going to do that again. It’s probably the worst setup I’ve ever had,” said the British driver to Viaplay as per GP Blog.
“I really thought it was the right decision when I made the decision, and it was the worst. The worst. The next race will be better,” he added. Hamilton wants to avoid starting races from a position where he has to overtake more than half the grid to reach the top.
This wasn’t the first time Hamilton complained of a wrong set-up. Per him, he has been trying to tune his car differently before almost every race, making the W15 extremely unpredictable. The Aston Martin and McLaren cars were comprehensively faster and there was little Lewis Hamilton could do to prevent their overtakes.
Where does Mercedes stand?
Mercedes is clearly at a disadvantage when pitted against Ferrari and McLaren. The latter two had a poor start to the 2023 season, but have been on the ascendency every since, bringing the gap closer to Red Bull.
The Ferrari and McLaren drivers are competing for the podium places on a near regular basis. Mercedes on the other hand, is far behind the two aforementioned teams. Before thinking of catching Red Bull, they have to try and play catch-up to Ferrari and McLaren. Even Aston Martin for that matter, seem to have the upper hand over the Brackley-based outfit for now.
Wolff, however, has good news for his team. He confirmed that the Silver Arrows will be bringing an upgrade to the upcoming race in Miami. How much those upgrades will help Lewis Hamilton and Co., remains to be seen.
