In the round-up: Lewis Hamilton says he is pained by his lack of success in his final season at Mercedes so far.
In brief
Lack of success “painful” for Hamilton
Hamilton, who will join Ferrari next year, said “the most painful part” of his coming departure from Mercedes to join Ferrari is the lack of result the team has had so far. He is yet to finish a grand prix in the top five so far.
“I think everyone in the team, they want it to be a great year,” he told CBS. “Everyone’s worked so hard back at the factory, no less than ever before.
“For me, this whole journey has been massively emotional just because I have so much love for this team. I’m not leaving because I’m unhappy there. I’m not leaving because of relationship issues. Mercedes supported me since I was 13 so I love the brand. I love the people. They’ve been with me through thick and thin. So it’s definitely a strange transition at the moment.”
Hamilton hasn’t won a race since the penultimate round of 2021. “It’s been tough,” he admitted. “Of course we exist to win and when you’re not winning, your perspective has to shift. And it’s just been about chasing and it’s about improvement. It’s about coming together. How can we make improvements? How can we get back to where we want to be and rallying and everyone out?
“I actually really enjoyed that experience. But three years in now, we’re like, okay, I’ve had enough of this, let’s get back to where we belong.”
Russell’s car “didn’t feel right”
George Russell said something didn’t feel right in his Mercedes during Sunday’s race.“It was a pretty rubbish race from start to finish in all honesty,” he told the official F1 channel. “I made a good start, but I think it was Checo who sent it down the inside when he rejoined everybody had to check up a bit and it cost me three positions. And then just had no pace at all thereon in. I need to check the car, check the data because something didn’t feel quite right.”
The Miami Grand Prix weekend “definitely felt like a more difficult weekend than all of the others,” said Russell. “But the results have all really been relatively similar.
“We are between P5 on a good day and P8 on a bad day. And today was a bad day, we finished P8. Lewis had a had a good day, drove really well and finished P6. And that’s kind of where we are.”
‘You shouldn’t really defend in Miami’ – Albon
Alexander Albon says defending position is almost impossible at Miami’s F1 circuit because of the lack of grip away from the racing line.
“It’s so dirty off-line here, you’re defending but you shouldn’t really be defending because it’s putting dirt on your tyres and then when you brake, you lock up,” he told the official F1 channel. “So it’s one of those ones where you didn’t really want to defend but you had to keep position.”
Albon was the first driver to pit in Sunday’s race which left him vulnerable to attack from those who took fresh tyres later on, and eventually had to make an extra pit stop at the end.
“We didn’t have that bad pace,” he said. “It’s just that the cars behind us were all on new tyres. So I was the backstop for everyone else, and you can’t really hold off the guys when they’re on 25, 30-lap newer tyres than you. I think if we weren’t that last car and we were a position or two ahead, and there was someone else being the buffer, we would have been okay.”
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Norris: nice guy finishes first after long road to top of F1 (The Guardian)
'He will chat with us and chill out, he won’t sit in his driver’s room or go back to the hotel, he will happily come into the garage and be with us instead. So we all see him as a friend as well as a driver.'
Cordeel: Hitech direction hugely positive after Barcelona test (Formula 2)
'It’s a good point for me because usually around the European tracks I’m much, much better. I don't know why, but it seems like the last two years around the European ones I'm much quicker.'
Japanese F4 hoping issues with new engine resolved before round two (Formula Scout)
'Toyota parked its four juniors, B-MAX Racing withdrew its three cars (two of which were driven by Honda juniors), Ponos Racing took its two cars off the grid and Fujita Pharmacy Racing did the same with its sole entry.'
‘Stop the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix’: Businesses that lost up to $30M start petition (Fox 5)
'To date, F1 has not held a public meeting or even sat in a room with all of us together who lost millions in 2023.'
Spend the night in the Ferrari Museum (Airbnb)
Airbnb is offering the opportunity to book overnight stays in Ferrari's museum.
Miami Grand Prix trackside commentators fail at treating women as people (Jalopnik)
'The inappropriate commentary during Saturday’s F1 Academy race was brought to our attention and swiftly addressed. The comments made are unacceptable and not reflective of the Miami Grand Prix or its organisers.'
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Social media
Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:
Post-race radio message to @Max33Verstappen.#F1 #MiamiGP #RaceFans pic.twitter.com/Hwr3FnYWwF
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) May 6, 2024
Same commentators just said “girls put your phones down it’s time to watch”. What the hell @f1miami https://t.co/zksVFHzfNG
— Alexandra Klasinski (@alexandrak) May 4, 2024
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
MichaelN noted shades of last year’s Mexican Grand Prix in Sergio Perez’s somewhat desperate turn one move last weekend:
That looked super close. Perez had the right idea, but as with his earlier attempts to make up for a lacklustre qualifying in turn one, the move wasn’t executed quite as well as he might have imagined. Luckily it all went well.
MichaelN
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Peter Dixon and Jonny705!
Nick T.
7th May 2024, 1:17
Drove a great race, but guy is a broken record.
SteveR (@stever)
7th May 2024, 6:27
Yep. Tired of hearing excuses and whining on the radio.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
7th May 2024, 10:09
hes not the record that’s broken. That would be the lot that thought Russell had the best of him last year and can’t stop crying.
Nick T.
8th May 2024, 0:14
That’s a small group of die hard anti-Hamiltons.
The way Hamilton is a broken record is that he’ll throw the entire team under the bus (along with Toto), especially during the races and then later talk about how much he loves them.
David BR (@david-br)
7th May 2024, 14:50
?
Surely the broken record are the team excuses, not the drivers, both of whom seem to be doing what they can.
Hamilton was trying too hard with wild setups in previous races, which just saw him even further demoted. I really enjoyed seeing him drive combatively this weekend (even better that it annoyed the ever annoyable Alonso) and he seemed to have found the best race setup he could. Like you said, he (finally) drove well. I take these comments and his return to hard racing to mean he’s fed up with the messing around trying to fix a mediocre car.
Mike
7th May 2024, 17:43
Soon Lewis will be second fiddle with upgrades as Toto won’t want him taking any info with him when he leaves.
ILewis is not a very popular guy now at Mercedes. He is a lame duck so to speak. I think this is going to be a very long and frustrating season for him.
David BR (@david-br)
7th May 2024, 21:49
I don’t know if he’s popular or not. You’re right that he’ll be ‘phased out’ of some meetings and information as 2025 nears. I can’t see him being too overlooked with upgrades as he’s free to complain if that happens and the team will look bad. But is it so bad for Mercedes that Hamilton decided to switch to Ferrari? It’s a vote of no confidence, sure, and that must hurt. However, it’s the reality of where Mercedes are still, which further justifies Hamilton’s decision. But in terms of drivers, it’s much less damaging. Personally I still think Hamilton is the better and faster driver. But Russell is certainly close and has the potential to lead the team just fine: fast, aggressive, hungry, smart. So Mercedes can move on and sign a less experienced driver, or someone complementary like Sainz. Or of course go for Verstappen…
Nick T.
8th May 2024, 0:19
A. He crushed Russell last year. So, not sure how this is a return form.
B. Hamilton has never been great driving cars that are not in the sweet spot. A skill Alonso has that Hamilton has never had. On the other hand, when the car is in that sweet spot, Hamilton has an extra tenth or two over Alonso.
C. It’s telling you think Alonso was annoyed by Hamilton’s “return to form.” Hamilton was having a dismal weekend before Sunday’s race. And the only thing Alonso ever said about Hamilton was pre-GP and it was re: Sunday’s incident. So, it seems like the guy lives rent free in your head among many others.
Nick T.
8th May 2024, 0:21
An addition to point B I meant to make originally. It’s comical to blame experimental setups for his woes. He’s just never been great in a tricky car. It’s not the setups. The reason the setups vary on both cars is because Mercedes doesn’t understand the car.
Nick T.
8th May 2024, 0:39
Re: Saturday’s incident*
Ugh, for an edit button.
DaveW (@dmw)
7th May 2024, 20:13
I’m not hearing excuses I’m seeing both drivers resigned to finishing p6-8 but wanting more.
Nick T.
8th May 2024, 0:22
I never said he was making excuses. The broken record part is how vacillates between throwing the team under the bus and talking about how much all he cares about “is the guys back at the factory.”
Ajaxn
8th May 2024, 22:43
Ask the same questions, get the same reply.
Its rare for the interviewers to come up with an original question.
or has the great man puts it.
“The definition of insanity is doing the same experiment and expecting different results.” ― Albert Einstein
Nick T.
9th May 2024, 12:55
Yes. It’s awful. I wish we had more intelligent people asking the questions.
Nick T.
7th May 2024, 1:29
BTW, not sure what Albon is talking about. Plenty of drivers successfully defended this weekend. Maybe it’s just because the Williams is, sadly, the worst car on the grid again. Vowles and co. really blew it with this design. It’s sad. I love Williams and they’ve gone from exciting dark horse back to being hopelessly slow. Maybe they’ll “figure out” this new concept and be exciting once again, but I’m not holding my breath.
Jay
7th May 2024, 1:48
Once they get Newey they’ll be back on track! /s
Gusm.ai
7th May 2024, 1:48
(Just to start the flames) – maybe it was the car all the time.
S
7th May 2024, 3:59
Changing teams is basically an admission of exactly that.
T
7th May 2024, 14:48
If it was the car the whole time
Lewis wouldn’t have seven titles, to all his teammates and compatriot 1 (nico)
Max wouldn’t be on course for his fourth successful title defense, Sergio would have done something ANYTHING about it
Lewis wouldn’t have dragged his car to third last year even with a disqualification
Max’s prodigy status wouldn’t have being cemented long before he turned a championship winning contender in anger
If you want fan the lit flames make this about George and Lewis. Now there’s some good old fashion stirring!!
Armchair Expert (@armchairexpert)
7th May 2024, 6:21
Nah, it was the driver who was 1s/lap faster than his competitors. Strangely, with such a pace advantage he couldn’t win more than 5 races in a row with pretty much perfect reliability. Even funnier, he sometimes finished races off the podium, while his team mate just won. Must have been weight of his talent slowing him down.
T
7th May 2024, 14:24
It’s almost like he had some competition
Like his biggest and probable rival wasn’t only a dnf
It’s crazy right?
Velocityboy (@velocityboy)
7th May 2024, 13:44
Name a champion that didn’t have a very good car if not the best car?
S
7th May 2024, 15:42
Bingo – it’s always the car ;)
Tristan
7th May 2024, 2:17
Not a good headline for Vegas, or F1. I can see if F1 boosting the economy pretty much wherever it goes, but Vegas? They really don’t need the draw of F1 to get people there.
S
7th May 2024, 4:02
F1 didn’t go to Vegas to grow Vegas – they went to exploit it.
MichaelN
7th May 2024, 11:46
Even that is debatable. There is more spending in a particular area but that only lasts a week or two at most. Then you get into the hard to prove claims of ‘increased public profile leading to investments and tourism’ which you can spin whichever way you want.
F1 tends to go to places that are spending big already – not just on F1 – to grow their city. In other cases, there’s not a lot of evidence that F1 does much for their hosts. Towns like Nevers and Yeongam are still smallish provincial towns, and Spa is still a village after decades of hosting one of the premier F1 events of the year. Then you also have to factor in the cost of ‘hiring’ F1 to do their show. This is where Vegas is different from others, as it’s a FOM thing entirely. Often this bill is footed by the taxpayer in one way or another (which makes the collective tax dodging in F1 all the more objectionable). Is F1 it a net positive for a region? Hard to say. It’s certainly a fun event, but it’s probably not a great investment in the local economy.
So it’s no surprise that so few countries and cities still want to host big sporting events. The previous Olympic Winter Games had probably the lowest number of formal applicants ever, with just two in Kazakhstan and China. It didn’t help that the questionable figures at the IOC had a list of demands so long and comical that it made others unwilling to participate (they caused quite a scandal when they infamously demanded that the Norwegian royal family paid their drinks… that’s levels of misplaced self-importance not even Bernie Ecclestone reached.)
notagrumpyfan
7th May 2024, 12:39
They never wanted F1 to draw people to Las Vegas; they wanted visitors to spend more.
And LV succeeded at that.
Jere (@jerejj)
7th May 2024, 7:32
30 million lost because of holding a Grand Prix.
Ajaxn
7th May 2024, 8:22
It seems to me these sprint weekends will always puts the teams playing catchup at a greater disadvantage.
In the past, even when ahead of the field, Mercedes always used at least one of the three practice sessions to test other stuff.
Now we have these cursed sprints, and there is less time for those who need the extra time. These sprints favor the teams who are already ahead of the pack.
Let’s see what the next long weekend does for Mercedes. They need the time to dial in their setup and test whatever they need to bring next.
It must be galling to see the Mercedes-powered McLaren do so much better than the parent team.
David (@nvherman)
7th May 2024, 12:20
The current rules favour aero performance over engine performance
Ajaxn
8th May 2024, 22:48
I get that.
But its these dam sprint weekends, that make it so much harder to catch up, if you aren’t already on the ball.
Sure everyone gets the same amount of time, but if your behind bringing upgrades you need as much time as possible to understand and fine tune those upgrades.
Mr A
7th May 2024, 12:30
Haha that phrase. You hear it a lot in football too, “where we belong”.
Every team is currently “where they belong”, at this moment.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
7th May 2024, 13:20
My thoughts exactly. The Mercedes engineers just can’t move away from their original design and apparently refuse to believe their actual performance during races to their design’s performance on their simulators. I think HAM realized this after a couple of years of pleading with them to change the design, so he’s leaving.
David BR (@david-br)
7th May 2024, 14:51
+1
S
7th May 2024, 15:55
If a driver is going to ‘plead with the team to change the design’ then they’d better put up a convincing argument for not only what is better, but why and how it is better. And they have to do it long before it exists in the physical world, as by that time it is far too late.
It’s really easy for a driver to say what they want and even what’s wrong with what they already have – it’s another thing entirely to understand the why and how to make it better, particularly within such tight engineering, time and (relatively tight) financial restrictions.
Nick T.
9th May 2024, 15:28
It’s beyond ridiculous to act like Hamilton had some great idea beyond “make the car faster.” No driver has any idea of how to solve their car’s problems. The only suggestion Lewis had was put the seat farther back and change concept now because it’s not fast now. He had no idea if they would be able to make it work or whether a new concept would work out any better.
I don’t blame any driver for complaining about their car’s lack of performance (though it’s called “toxic” when some do it, but not others). But, for the love of god, let’s please not pretend any driver can do any better than what aspects of the car’s characteristics are losing them the most time.
Pete
7th May 2024, 13:28
He’s just saying what he has to say. He knows the Mercedes won’t suddenly be competing for wins this year and he won’t be driving for them next year so I doubt he cares in the slightest anymore. His focus will be on Ferrari and whether they can improve with their updates.
David BR (@david-br)
7th May 2024, 14:54
And who knows, with extra-added Newey at Ferrari too? :)
Nobody seems to have mentioned the smile Hamilton gave in a pre-race interview on whether he’d like that. As the commentators said, it was a real hint of ‘watch this space’ smile.
Of course that may be just wishful thinking…
SM
7th May 2024, 17:01
Had Alonso been making the same comments Hamilton has since the beginning of 2022 he would be called toxic left right abc and centre. I find it amazing Hamilton has gotten away without getting that sort of criticism for his constant remarks his car and team.
For the record imo he’s right and he should be able to speak his mind as should Alonso. And I don’t think any of them are being toxic with these kinds of remarks
Alesici
7th May 2024, 19:14
I was really disappointed that I didn’t get COTD (and just 1 reply) for my analysis below yesterday’s round up. I was proposing ways of preventing drivers breaking wrists racing, which has happened twice in the last 2 weekends. Instead a very meh comment won, which basically just said what happened at turn 1.
PlosslF1
8th May 2024, 15:18
Any sort of damper on the steering will be a big fat no as the driver needs to feel the car through it.
Number one rule in a crash is let go of the wheel…