Lewis Hamilton delivered an impressive performance during the 19-lap sprint race in Shanghai, in a tabloid format. The seven-time world champion showcased his skills on the track, but ended up behind the dominant competitor. Despite this, Hamilton described his second place in the sprint race in Shanghai as one of the best in recent times in Formula 1. The British driver expressed satisfaction with his performance in the lackluster W15 car.
Hamilton also managed to overtake the McLaren driver, who started from pole position, during the first lap. Reflecting on his race, Hamilton stated: « This is the best result I’ve had in a while. I couldn’t fight against the Red Bull cars, but we made progress and I learned a lot from the car in this stage, which is promising for tomorrow. »
The 39-year-old driver acknowledged the progress made by Mercedes since their arrival in Shanghai, but admitted that the Red Bull team is currently superior. In the sprint race of the Chinese GP, Red Bull secured a victory with a lead of over 13 seconds. While Hamilton praised his team’s efforts with the W15 car, he doubted their ability to challenge the front-running teams in the upcoming qualifying session. Red Bull, Ferrari, and McLaren have shown a better one-lap pace than Mercedes so far.
Hamilton expressed hope that changes to the car would lead to a stronger performance in qualifying. He stated: « We’re still not as fast on a single lap – I don’t expect us to be fighting for the front row, but we’ll make some changes between these three hours to try to have a better qualifying session. »
Actuellement, Mercedes occupe la quatrième position d’équipe la plus rapide sur la grille de 2024, très loin de sa domination précédente dans l’ère hybride turbo. Cependant, on s’attend à ce que la pluie affecte la prochaine séance, ce qui pourrait bénéficier à Hamilton et à son équipe pour garantir des positions de départ favorables pour la course de demain.
© 2024
