Hamilton Feels Confident He Can Finally Tell Mercedes In What Direction To Push With W15

Saturday, 06 April 2024 at 18:30

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Lewis Hamilton suggested he now feels confident knowing where Mercedes needs to improve their W15.

Saturday at Suzuka Circuit was a very positive and negative day for Mercedes. On the one hand, the team seemed to be able to retain the great drivability from the first practice session, which Lewis Hamilton previously praised.

On the other hand, despite finally being happy and confident in the car and putting in a great lap, the seven-time World Champion was only fast enough for P7.

This suggests Mercedes has a lot to work on in terms of performance. Hamilton was the quicker of the two Mercedes drivers this time around, but his best time was still more than half a second off Max Verstappen's.

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Nevertheless, the 39-year-old sees the glass half full as he suggests he at least knows where the German team needs to improve their car moving forward. He told the media present at the Suzuka Circuit:

"I think what it's giving us is that I know exactly where the car is not strong enough. I can feel it in the car, and I know now to tell them to 'push in this particular area.' But I'm hoping the race will be stronger tomorrow."

Asked whether this meant that Silver Arrows finally had the right directions to push their car, the seven-time F1 World Champion responded:

"I personally believe so, yeah. What we have noticed is track to track it has been really, really hard to get the set-up right and it has been so far out each time."

"In some places it has felt like nothing we can do gets the car in a sweet spot. But this weekend it's much more in the sweet spot and so I hope that continues in the following races. Then we've just got to add performance."