The seven-time Formula 1 world champion expressed dissatisfaction with the handling issue (commonly known as bouncing) that Mercedes believed had been resolved with this year’s new W15 car. However, the problem has persisted for three consecutive years.
In the other Mercedes car, George Russell achieved a slightly faster time, securing seventh place on the grid for today’s race, which is the second round of the 2024 F1 World Championship in Jeddah. Both Mercedes cars will start from row 4. However, they were nearly a second slower than pole sitter Max Verstappen in the Red Bull #1.
After the race, Hamilton, who will join Ferrari in 2025, spoke to Sky Sports and said, “It was similar to previous years. There are many improvements in this car, but we are still hindered by the bouncing issue.”
“We made some adjustments overnight and the car felt much better this morning. I was regaining my confidence, but it disappeared again during qualifying,” Hamilton added.
“We tried all possible setup changes, but we couldn’t solve it. It’s hard to explain. We had some bouncing in Bahrain, but it wasn’t as intense as here,” said the most successful driver in the sport’s history.
Hamilton, known for his exceptional qualifying performances, struggled to make it into the top 10. He had difficulties mainly in the high-speed first sector of the Corniche circuit. He explained, “When the car bounces up and down at the rear, the balance shifts back and forth. Correcting this at speeds of 160 or 170 mph is challenging… We need to fix it. It’s been a recurring issue for three years. We need to overcome it,” Hamilton urged, directing his team to address the problem with the W15 car.
The last victory for Hamilton in the Grand Prix, his record-breaking 103rd win, came in Saudi Arabia in 2021, when Jeddah was added to the calendar.
“We are still trying to understand this car. In FP2 in Bahrain, we were in first and second place. Yesterday in practice, I was in third and fourth place, and the pace was promising. There is potential, but we are still trying to comprehend and learn about it,” Hamilton explained further.
The team principal of Mercedes, Toto Wolff, acknowledged that the car has speed, but it is also very sensitive. “The drivers are struggling to consistently extract the maximum performance from it,” said the Austrian. (Written by Alan Baldwin)
