Lewis Hamilton had a tough time in the second practice session on Friday and only managed to secure the 18th position on the time sheets. The start of the weekend for the seven-time world champion and Toto Wolff was disastrous. Hamilton had a mediocre performance in the first practice session at Albert Park, finishing in ninth place. However, his race in the second session was even worse, finishing in 18th place. It has now been revealed that a crucial mistake from the Mercedes garage was responsible for Hamilton’s poor performance.
Previously, Hamilton described his outing on Friday as the worst of his career. Wolff revealed that the Silver Arrows tried to experiment with the car setup for Albert Park but failed to achieve the desired performance.
Furthermore, Wolff stated that a significant change in Hamilton’s car setup in FP2 went wrong. The Mercedes team boss acknowledged that the team had been trying different setups in free practice due to the large performance disparities.
Wolff emphasized that Russell’s car setup had worked better, but Mercedes was still struggling to maximize the performance of the W15. Despite some promising laps from the 26-year-old driver, Wolff admitted that Albert Park was not a favorable track for the Silver Arrows.
Mercedes was dominant in Formula 1 during the Hybrid Turbo era, winning eight consecutive Constructors’ titles from 2014 to 2021 and seven consecutive Drivers’ championships. However, in the era of ground effect in the sport, the team has fallen behind Red Bull, with Hamilton not winning a race since 2021. The team’s last victory was achieved by George Russell in 2022 at Interlagos.
Wolff openly expressed his frustration with the team’s ongoing difficulties. He acknowledged that the entire team was frustrated and working hard in all areas, but had not yet found a solution to progress.
Both Hamilton and Russell may face challenges in the Australian GP. The Silver Arrows have one final practice session to make the necessary adjustments before Parc Ferme. Engineers under Wolff’s guidance will be striving to find the right changes before Qualifying in Albert Park.
