Lewis Hamilton has urged fans and pundits to be careful when heaping expectations onto Mercedes this winter off the back of impressive performances in Austin and Mexico City. The Silver Arrows have closed the gap to Red Bull since introducing their new floor upgrades.
Optimism levels are extremely high right now in the Mercedes camp after Hamilton finished second on track behind Max Verstappen at each of the last two races ahead of the final leg of this triple-header, albeit having been disqualified for a technical infringement in Austin. Now the drivers head to Interlagos, where Mercedes clinched their only race win of the 2022 season.
The seven-time world champion is even beginning to make inroads on Sergio Perez, who sits second in the World Championship heading into the final three races. Hamilton now trails Red Bull’s number two driver by just 20 points with the team’s first-ever one-two Drivers’ Championship lockout now in jeopardy.
However, speaking ahead of the Brazilian GP this weekend, Hamilton urged caution, stating: “After the last couple of races, you get messages from people saying: ‘Oh, it’s looking good.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, but it was looking good at this time last year, too, but we started this year 1.5 seconds behind.’
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“I’m not dazzled by where we are currently. I am thinking quite long-term at the moment. And then short-term just trying to solidify second in the constructors’ (championship), because that is so important for everyone in the team. I anticipate Red Bull are going to blitz it but if that’s not the case I will be ready to take the right to them.”
There was good reason for Hamilton and Mercedes to feel hopeful after the 2022 Brazilian GP. George Russell followed up a sprint race victory with a commanding maiden Grand Prix win that weekend, while the 38-year-old rounded off a one-two finish for the Silver Arrows, despite heavy contact with Verstappen.
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While Hamilton is taking a cautiously optimistic approach, chief technical officer James Allison has given fans reason to be hopeful heading into the 2024 season.
Addressing the impact that the new floor upgrades have made, he said: “The other thing is we collect a lot of data off the car. So pressures off the floor, pressures off the wings, loads on the car and all that data is correlating really well with what we’re seeing in the wind tunnel.
“And that’s crucial for next year because this floor is actually a step towards the development direction that we want to take for 2024. So very encouraging signs, but still a lot of work ahead of us.”
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