After experiencing an engine overheating problem in Bahrain, Lewis Hamilton and Co. were hoping for a better showing at the second race of the season in Jeddah. While George Russell appeared to be in a comfortable position, Lewis Hamilton had trouble with the back of his car during practice and qualifying. However, while speaking to the media about his difficulties, it appeared that the Mercedes maestro was trying to hold back his tears. Now this situation has infuriated the Mercedes fans.
At the end of the second practice, Hamilton was four-tenths off Russell’s speed and down in P8. During this time, the Briton was also given a reprimand for impeding Williams’ Logan Sargeant. Following this, when Hamilton talked about his experience with the reporters, he said that he lacked confidence in the rear end of the W-15.
He said as quoted by Formula1.com, “Yeah, a typical day, just lacking the confidence in the rear of the car. [With] the set-up we did some work session to session, changed quite a bit, but [there was still the] underlying issue with the rear end that I was struggling with.”
#SaudiArabianGP | Lewis Hamilton post-quali: “We made some changes overnight and this morning the car felt so much better. I was regaining confidence again, and then we get to qualifying and it disappears again.”
“But George was doing a great job, he’s a lot more comfortable…
— deni (@fiagirly) March 8, 2024
Hamilton went on to say that he felt better and had begun to regain confidence following the adjustments. However, eventually, the trust vanished in the qualifyings. After talking about his own experience, Hamilton jumped on to share his thoughts on Russell’s performance in Jeddah. The Briton claimed that George was performing admirably and was much more at ease in the W-15,’ similar to the last couple of years.’
It’s interesting to note that in the midst of all this, there is a video that has gone viral which appears to show Hamilton blinking and possibly wiping away tears. Following this, the F1 Twitter community has seen an enormous influx of comments.
Lewis Hamilton’s potential wiping of tears prompts Twitter F1 to lash Mercedes
For the past two years, Lewis Hamilton has not won a single Grand Prix. Despite this, the seven-time champion has never stopped pushing to raise his own and his team’s performance. However, now that Mercedes has let the Briton down again, the fans have started dragging the Silver Arrows to show how deeply disappointed they are. A supporter going by the handle @sirhqmilton has even gone so far as to ask God to take all of Hamilton’s issues and throw them on Toto Wolff.
dear god please take all of lewis hamilton’s pain for this season and throw it into toto wolff pic.twitter.com/Ca30T6SPvp
— آل (@sirhqmilton) March 8, 2024
HE WAS IN TEARS??? mercedes when i find you pic.twitter.com/H2ob5cy8Hq
— eri (@hamxnda) March 8, 2024
As soon as other fans saw the clip, they jumped in and started criticizing Mercedes for failing to provide Hamilton with a competitive car.
he was holding back fucking TEARS ?! mercedes sleep with one eye open ‼️
pic.twitter.com/dG7mleZZwT— آل (@sirhqmilton) March 8, 2024
HERE pic.twitter.com/8gJOGrIV5u https://t.co/LbZe6OHD03
— sin ⁴⁴ (@44britcedes) March 8, 2024
@MercedesAMGF1 https://t.co/pY0CnfEnK7 pic.twitter.com/iKK8I95Opf
— StillWeRise… (@RoscoeRacing) March 9, 2024
As things stand, it will be intriguing to watch if Hamilton can use his expertise in the race to go past his starting position (P8).