Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes Formula 1 driver, blamed his W14 for Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Q2 drop. He insisted that his car felt “more inconsistent than ever before” at season finale.
During Q2 session, Hamilton could only mark 11th place for himself which resulted in drop from Q3. The former world champion complained that “there’s something not right with this car”. However, his team-mate George Russell does not only qualified for Q3 rather he qualified fourth in the same.
Unfortunately, this year season Mercedes’ drivers struggled through-out with their unreliable W14.
Hamilton expressed his frustration on the Yas Marina Circuit calling it worse than ever. He said: “It’s more inconsistent that ever before, it’s just up and down per corner from the moment you hit the brakes, the moment you turn, the moment you hit the apex.
“It’s massively out of balance and very hard to predict what’s gonna happen.
“It’s just a very unpredictable car. But it’s been the same all year.”
The British world champion expressed his opinion about W14 at the end of season. He said: “I wouldn’t say I’m relieved. But I’m definitely happy it’s nearly over.”
Toto Wolff, Mercedes Formula 1 boss, also anger his frustration with the inconsistent car.
“I’m fed up with having explanations for why it didn’t go well,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“We were good in the hot, we weren’t in the cold. The previous days, it was the other way around.
“I’m happy that this was the last qualifying of the season and we are going to come [next year] with a new car.”
Russell believes it is quite difficult to keep W14 working in right window. The fluctuating gaps between the team mates tell the W14 problems.
“We’re joint on qualifying performances, but we’re never the same pace. Either I’m four tenths ahead, or he’s four tenths ahead,” Russell explained.
“So, it just shows how difficult it is to get it in the sweet spot. So all eyes on next year, and I’m confident we can rustle up something better.”
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Russell added: “There’s a lot of small things we’re changing with the car, I’ve seen it in the wind tunnel.
“We’ll be making some steps forward, no doubt. But Red Bull are so far ahead at the moment. They stopped development months ago, so they’re going to make a huge step again.
“But I’m confident we’ll be in a better place come Bahrain than we were in the last two years.”
