Lewis Hamilton has experienced a bumpy ride at the Belgian Grand Prix. From surprising changes in car performance to hoping for some rain, here’s what went down.
- Hamilton described his day as “pretty bad” after feeling a stark contrast in car performance.
- Despite recent successes, the Mercedes W15 didn’t shine in Friday’s practice.
- Hamilton ended up 1.259 seconds behind session leader Lando Norris.
- He hopes the predicted rain on Saturday might even the playing field.
Lewis Hamilton had a tough time during Friday’s practice at Spa. He called the day “pretty bad,” pointing out a striking difference in how his car, the W15, performed.
Mercedes recently celebrated back-to-back wins in Austria and Britain, with Hamilton securing his record-breaking ninth British Grand Prix victory. However, things didn’t go as smoothly in Belgium.
During the practice, Hamilton found himself in P10, 1.259 seconds behind McLaren’s Lando Norris. Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell was also a second down on Norris.
Hamilton expressed his frustrations, saying the car felt different from the previous races. “It has been feeling great in the past couple of races. That just felt completely different today,” he noted.
Though Mercedes made some adjustments between sessions that initially seemed promising, Hamilton couldn’t keep up once he switched to soft tires. “There was a bunch of balance issues we had throughout the lap,” he explained.
Even if the car improved slightly in the second session, other teams improved more, leaving Mercedes behind. “To be 1.2 seconds behind is not great,” Hamilton admitted.
The predicted rain for Saturday might provide an edge for Mercedes. “If it rains, then that opens it up a little bit and hopefully we can do a better job,” Hamilton said, noting that the car might perform better in wet conditions.
Hamilton’s track record at the Belgian Grand Prix is impressive, with four victories, most recently in 2020. He is optimistic that the rain might help turn things around for his team this weekend.
Lewis Hamilton’s challenging day at Spa has him hoping for rain to help his Mercedes W15 bounce back.
Source: Planetf1
