After starting fifth on the grid, Lewis Hamilton crossed the finish line of the Sprint race of the São Paulo Formula 1 Grand Prix in seventh place. After being in the top four in the early moments, the Mercedes driver had many difficulties and, towards the end, was overtaken by Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) to drop to seventh.
The experienced seven-time champion confessed that there were many problems driving the W14, considering that the setup may not have been ideal: ‘It wasn’t a fun race. We had a good start and managed to gain a position on Sergio Pérez. However, after that, we had a lot of difficulties with the balance. We had a lot of understeer, then oversteer, and I was struggling with the car from early on. In the final phase, I had lost grip on the tires, and I can only assume that we made a mistake with the setup. We will need to find a way to make some changes for the main race.’
Unless something changes for the better, Hamilton expects a tough race this Sunday, but he assured full commitment: ‘I suspect it will be a long afternoon if we can’t make improvements. Of course, I will fight as hard as I can, and I will try to manage the tires a little better than we were able to in the Sprint race.’
