Hamilton Hoping His Team Doesn't 'Make Too Many Changes And Mess It Up'

Friday, 05 April 2024 at 21:00

The seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton suggested that Mercedes start the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix weekend to "better platform," but he doesn't want to "mess it up."

Mercedes fans stopped having high expectations from their favorite team after the underwhelming first three races of the season, during which Silver Arrows' performance only went down.

Mercedes scored 16 points in Bahrain, 10 points in Saudi Arabia, and zero points during the most recent weekend in Australia after a double DNF.

However, the first free practice session at Suzuka Circuit looked rather promising for the German team, with George Russell and Hamilton setting the fourth and fifth fastest times, respectively.

The 39-year-old even called the FP1 at Suzuka "the best session" of the season so far, and he also said his W15 felt the best it had ever felt.

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As to whether the results of the first practice session will translate into better qualifying and race results, the seven-time World Champion said:

"It's hard to know but we have a better platform, a better baseline to start from, so as long as we don't make too many changes and mess it up, probably just stay where we are, then hopefully...."

Hamilton doesn't want to make too many changes, remembering his experience from the Australian Grand Prix weekend, where he also said the car felt the best it had ever felt at the beginning of FP1.

However, as that session progressed, Mercedes made some changes, and the car became increasingly undrivable for the British driver. Later, he called the FP2 session the worst he had had in a long time.

Consequently, it is understandable that Hamilton is now careful about making any changes to the setup of his car. He added:

"It's a shame we didn't get that [second] session, but they have changed the tire rule, so therefore, no one goes out and runs on the intermediate, which doesn't make sense, really, but there you go