'Difficult Day': Hamilton Reflects After Mercedes Receives Fine For Impeding

Friday, 08 March 2024 at 01:30

Updated at Friday, 08 March 2024 at 13:32

Lewis Hamilton didn't have an ideal first day of the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend, as his team received a fine for his impeding.

The second Grand Prix of the 2024 F1 season is around the corner, specifically behind 27 corners when it comes to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, and the first two Free Practice sessions are already over.

Untraditionally, the race will take place on Saturday, so Thursday was the day of the first Free Practice session, as well as the second Free Practice session, in both of which the seven-time World Champion finished eighth.

On top of that, during the FP2 session, Hamilton impeded Logan Sargeant after he wasn't aware of the American's presence, and as a result, his team received a €15,000 fine.

It was just a bad day for the Brit, but he didn't struggle just because of the fine, as incidents like that regularly happen, but also because of the setup of is W15, in which he lacked confidence, as he said after the FP2, as per SkySports.

"A difficult day. Just lacking confidence in the rear of the car and the set-up. We did some work from session to session, changed the car quite a bit, but the underlying issue with the rear end that I was struggling with."

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The Jeddah Corniche Circuit is one of the faster circuits, especially when it comes to high-speed corners, and that's where the 39-year-old lacked confidence, which he'll need if he wants to challenge for the race win on Saturday.

"So I had a couple of really big moments out there. In these high-speed areas you need to have full faith in the rear of the car, and I've just not got that yet."

On top of that, Hamilton admitted that he and his teammate George Russell ran different setups, something he said also in Bahrain.

"We're going to have to go through the data and stuff, but George is obviously a lot happier with his car. We kind of went in different directions today. We're all trying different things to try to find the right solution for the car. But yeah, all I want is a stable rear, and then I'll be happy. So that's what I'm working on."