Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes Formula 1 driver, says the team can only “laugh off” its F1 car misery. He shared his opinion after a struggling qualifying for Mercedes at Belgian Grand Prix.
Three weeks earlier, Mercedes showed a strong form at Hungarian Grand Prix. George Russell in his W13 finished on pole, while stunning many in the paddock. Hamilton and his team-mate finished on the podium behind Max Verstappen.
However, Silver Arrows scuppered at Spa-Francorchamps qualifying. Hamilton and Russell were only managed to finish seventh and eighth. While pace-setter Max Verstappen marked 1.8 second gap to them in Q3.
Toto Wolff, Mercedes F1 boss, expressed his annoyance at the qualifying results. He labelled it as the worst in a decade during his all time with Mercedes.
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Hamilton expressed his disbelief and disappointment when asked about how the performance scuppered. He said: “I just don’t want to use the word disappointing. Because we’ve got to remember that there are 2000 people back at the factory that are working so hard to get it right.
“Of course I wish that we got it right and we brought upgrades that would push us forward. I wish we were fighting at the front, but it is the way that it is and it hurts. Believe me, it hurts.
“But at this point, you’ve just got to laugh it off and say I am not fighting for a championship. If I get too serious and too low… I’ve got a responsibility to try to keep morale high, as we’ve got to keep pushing. We cannot be discouraged.
“Yes, it sucks and it is slow.”
Hamilton asserted that Mercedes should shift its focus to the next year to iron out characteristic misbehavior of W13.
“That is the biggest gap we’ve ever had in qualifying,” Hamilton said.
“What we do is talk about the meetings we’ll have next week and talk about the steps next and where we want to be with next year’s car, what we can take from our understanding of the car here and apply it to the next car to make sure it is not like this one at all.
“That’s what I’m trying to focus on.”
