Hamilton Slides Into Negative Mood: 'Red Bull, I Think, Is So Far Away'

Monday, 06 November 2023 at 09:00

Updated at Monday, 06 November 2023 at 10:50

Mercedes F1 driver Lewis Hamilton slid into a negative mood after one of the worst weekends Mercedes during the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton understood and told the media after the sprint on Saturday he would not have a chance of winning on Sunday as his Mercedes did not work properly at Interlagos Circuit.

The Sunday race was not all bad for the seven-time World Champion when he managed to get up to P3 in the first few laps, but then he lost the pace and fell down to P8 throughout the race.

Even though he said he felt like he drove a better race on Sunday, he was far from being able to challenge for the podium. The 38-year-old told the media, as reported by PlanetF1:

"My guess is that the floor is not working. The floor is not sucking it down, so that pushed us to go to a higher wing, and then we’re just massively draggy on the straights."

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The Mercedes driver identified the floor of his car as the main cause of all his struggles at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. This comes as a surprise after two races where the car seemed to have performed a lot better.

"And we’re losing so much time on the straights, there’s nothing I can do about it, and then we’re just sliding through the corners. So we have to look into why that is the case on this rough circuit."

The tire degradation, which tends to be the stronger side of the Mercedes team, was also shocking this weekend. At one point in the race, Hamilton said on the radio they should have put on hard tires instead of the medium compound, which was good enough for other teams.

"Just the tires are overheating, slow on the straights, no grip in the corners. I think, ultimately, all I can do is try to remain optimistic."

On one hand, the seven-time World Champion mentioned all he can do is try to be optimistic. On the other hand, he said Red Bull is probably going to be far away for the next couple of years.