Lewis Hamilton and George Russell struggled comprehensively to get up to speed with the W14 in Sao Paolo last weekend. Both drivers constantly complained about how bad the balance of the Mercedes challenger was at Interlagos. Despite this, team principal Toto Wolff believes that this car deserves a win this season.
Talking about this, the Silver Arrows boss said as per Junaid Samodien on X, “It doesn’t explain what went wrong, it’s almost like the car was on 4 wheels and not 4. This car does deserve a win. We need to push for the last remaining races and recover. We need to see what we can do in Vegas and Abu Dhabi.”
The W14 was the second-fastest car in Mexico and Hamilton finished in P2 behind this year’s champion Max Verstappen. Moreover, it also showed similar prowess when it finished in podium place in the US before getting disqualified.
However, the challenger saw a massive dip in performance when it came to Sao Paolo. This is despite the fact that Interlagos has been a happy hunting ground for the Silver Arrows over the last few years. Nevertheless, Hamilton is waiting for the season to be over as he is done driving this car.
Lewis Hamilton wants Mercedes to focus on next year’s car
With Lewis Hamilton having yet another day to forget in Brazil, he stayed firm in his statement on parting ways with the W14. Hamilton has failed to claim a win since Saudi Arabia in 2021 and the W14 surely did not help his chances at changing that.
Therefore, the seven-time world champion is glad to bid goodbye to the Mercedes challenger after the season-finale in Abu Dhabi. Furthermore, Toto Wolff also spoke about building a superior car after failing to make one in back-to-back seasons.
Nevertheless, the Brackley-based outfit now needs to make sure they end this season on a high. They’re occupying P2 in the Constructors’ championship and that is under threat from Ferrari. Right now, Mercedes has a 20-point lead over the Maranello-based outfit, which could change in the last two rounds.
Therefore, they will need to make sure they get their last two races right as Lewis Hamilton is already on the back foot in his Drivers’ championship race to finish in P2. Sergio Perez’s P4 finish today took the Mexican 32 points clear of the Briton.
