Lewis Hamilton has warned that the Las Vegas Grand Prix could be difficult for Mercedes due to a specific weakness on their car.
Mercedes has struggled to replicate their race-winning form from the middle of the season. Hamilton’s results in the last four races are indications of their troubles, having retired from the US GP with balance problems and struggled with bouncing in the Sao Paulo GP that made his race weekend a nightmare.
Technical director James Allison identified a balance issue they ‘couldn’t control’ in Singapore that has affected them for most of the year, which the team has tried to rectify with recent upgrades to their floor but crash damage has impacted thier ability to test it.
Russell’s crash in Mexico qualifying caused him to revert to the Silverstone-spec car, while Antonelli’s run in practice also led to damage to Hamilton’s floor as he used his car in the session.
Assessing Mercedes’ chances this weekend, Hamilton believes it might be tricky because of another weakness that has plagued the team since the start of the year when speaking to F1 TV.
Lewis Hamilton expects difficult Las Vegas GP because of temperatures
Air temperatures in Las Vegas are set to be as low as seven degrees celcius during the night, meaning track temperatures will be around the four degrees mark for most the weekend.
This makes generating tyre temperature in the complicated Pirelli tyres difficult, a weakness that has affected Mercedes for most of the year. In Singapore, Mercedes suffered from overheating their tyres which left them ‘in the woods’ and the reverse effect could happen in Vegas according to Hamilton.
“It’s not going to be great for us. We’ve always struggled with tyre temps, getting tyre temperature in the hot tracks we overheat and then in the cold tracks will be a real challenge,” said Hamilton.
“But I think everyone will have that. Also there is a section of the track open to the public, so we’ll see if anyone is driving before us.”
Lewis Hamilton responds to cryptic Brazil radio message
Hamilton’s torrid weekend in Brazil ended in him just taking a single point in tenth place and around 30 seconds behind teammate George Russell, who finished in fourth place.
The seven-time world champion described the weekend as a “disaster” over the team radio and remarked: “Great job to all the guys at the pit stop. If this is the last time that I get to perform, it’s a shame it wasn’t great, but grateful for you.”
When asked about the message, Hamilton clarified what he meant by the cryptic message which appeared to insinuate that he was not going to finish the season with Mercedes.
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“In the moment, that’s how I felt. I didn’t want to come back. But it’s only natural, it’s frustrating to have a season like this which I’m pretty sure I’m not having again. Or at least working towards not having again,” said Hamilton.
“It wasn’t a great feeling in that moment, but I’m here, I’m standing strong, and will give it everything for these last three races.”
Hamilton currently sits seventh in the Drivers’ Championship on 190 points, which is just two behind Russell on 192 points. He will likely want to finish ahead of his teammate ahead of the move to Ferrari next year.
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