Sixth on the grid, Lewis Hamilton could only see the problem with his W13 after qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. The Mercedes F1 driver estimates that he lost more than half a second per lap on the straights due to the drag of his car, which has been the real problem since the start of the season.
“The car was very good today, I was happy with the balance but we were slow on the straights,” Hamilton said. « We had a lot of drag all season and I pushed as much as possible. We lose at least six tenths on the straights. »
« I expect the Red Bulls and the Ferraris to do their own racing. I hope we will be faster in the race than we were today, and have fun. I want to do a better race than last week. »
Russell explains why the deficit is so large
George Russell will start eighth and for the Briton, the finding is similar to that of his teammate. He explains why Suzuka has even more highlighted the drag problem of the W13, yet present since the start of the season.
“The car is quite good honestly, not perfect but not too far behind in terms of lap times,” Russell said. “We lose a lot of time on the straights compared to our rivals. It’s been the case all season, but it’s the first circuit that has long straights but also a lot of downforce.
« Normally when you see circuits with long straights like Spa, Monza or even Silverstone, it’s low downforce levels. And high downforce circuits like Monaco, Budapest, Zandvoort or Singapore, there’s little straight lines and you don’t see that deficit. But here it showed. »
He hopes that Mercedes F1 will show a good pace in the race so as to be the third force on the field, because according to him it is unlikely to aim better: « We should have enough pace not to worry too much about those behind. »
« We want to be in the fight between Red Bull and Ferrari but we are five tenths short this weekend. We have to make sure we finish ahead of Alpine but that’s not where we want to be. »
