W15 'Feels Like Race Car For Once' Unlike Mercedes's 2022 and 2023 Challengers Says Hamilton

Friday, 01 March 2024 at 02:00

Lewis Hamilton stated that Mercedes's 2024 challenger- W15, feels much better than previous W13 and W14 models.

Mercedes showed first indications of their real pace during the second practice session on Thursday, where Lewis Hamilton and George Russell took P1 and P2.

The seven-time World Champion mentioned it has been a huge surprise for him to find himself with Mercedes in such a position ahead of the first race and said the team still needs to keep pushing to catch up with Red Bull in race terms of pace. On the other hand, he also told Sky Sports:

"I'm much happier with the car this year. The seating position is fine- more rearwards. I've got a better feel for the car approaching corners."

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Russell hinted to the media that Mercedes involved their drivers, mainly his older, experienced teammate, much more in the development of the new car than before.

According to the 25-year-old, "a lot of the car has been designed around" Hamilton's wishes. This might have been a good move from Mercedes, as the FP2 results suggest that Silver Arrows could be on the track at the moment. The 39-year-old continued:

"But there are other areas that have been fixed and improved, and it just makes it feel like a race car for once."

The Briton also contrasted his feeling from the W15 to previous models that he races during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He added:

"And last two cars didn't feel like that. So it's a really good platform for us to work on, and we're just going to keep our heads down and keep on chasing."

Hamilton's fastest lap of the FP2 session was almost half a second better from Max Verstappen's best lap time. While all teams most probably tried to hide their pace, it seems Mercedes might become a bit of a threat for Red Bull during the 2024 season if the team could replicate a similar result on Friday.