It has been one of the worst seasons for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes since 2011, as they are yet to win a race in 2022 and the W13 has been a cause of constant trouble. Despite the ongoing problems, Mercedes was a little sanguine heading into the Italian GP after the only strong performance they had this season last weekend in the Netherlands. But the results were still not as strong as they had hoped.
It has been quite distressing and the Mercedes team is working hard to make sure this doesn’t repeat itself next season in 2023. Lewis Hamilton, after Q3, admitted:
“We know why the gap is – but we can’t do anything about it in-season. We’re working to make sure we don’t have it next year. It’s a frustrating season. Last race, the car was underneath us & today not. Mentally, it’s hard to get around.”
He continued:
“I have no idea what we can do tomorrow. The worst case, we could be stuck behind somebody in the 18th place! The best is to get ahead & finish in the points.” Lewis and George finish qualifying in P5 and P6. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow.
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Lewis Hamilton was among the others to receive a penalty for the weekend, hence starting at the back of the grid at Monza. He finished P5 during qualifying but was demoted to P19 due to the same. He spoke out about his aim to make the best he can out of this situation and hopefully successfully complete a few overtakes:
“I’ll just do the work tonight, I’ll use the opportunity. I made the mistake that put me in this position to need to have a new engine, and I’ll use the experience to work on my race craft, it needs work. So, I’ll brush some of those damn cob webs and get some good overtaking maneuvers if I can.”
Lewis Hamilton further accepted that he could have done better:
“It was an ok session, it wasn’t my best. Today, we were off the pace but fifth was the best I could do and I’m losing two tenths in the last sector. As a competitor, I feel like I’ ve got to sort that out.”
He elaborated:
“I was expecting the gap in pace because of what we saw in Spa. When we go to a circuit like Budapest where there’s maximum downforce, we’re in a much better place. It’s going to be tough tomorrow because DRS doesn’t make a huge difference. It could be a frustrating day but we’ll try our best.”
Lewis Hamilton expects a Mercedes comeback next season
16 races into the season and Mercedes is yet to get a single win. However, Lewis Hamilton is positive that Mercedes will find a solution and will be back in fighting position in 2023. The 7-world champion sees potential in the car and is sure the team is working hard to turn things around:
“There is potential in the car. We’ve got downforce, it’s just in some places it we’re not able to utilize it. And ride quality, of course, is an area that we can always be better.”
He expressed his contentment:
“So I’m comfortable the direction that we’re going and have 1,000% confidence in the guys back at the factory, who are stringing together all these pieces of the puzzle, and have no doubt that we will be back in a fighting position next year.”
It will be a tough race for Lewis Hamilton at the Temple of Speed ie Monza, but him and the team are going to try their best to turn things around.
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