SUZUKA, Japan, CMC – Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was optimistic that Mercedes have started to move in the right direction with their unreliable car after the final qualifying runs on Saturday for the Japanese Grand Prix.
The British race car driver with Grenadian heritage will start from seventh on the grid in the feature race on Sunday at the Suzuka circuit, and fellow Briton and teammate George Russell will start from ninth.
Hamilton out-qualified Russell for the first time in four tries this season, and he was upbeat about the improved handling of the W15 that enabled them almost to halve their deficit to pole position, which was grabbed by Red Bull Racing driver, championship leader, and three-time defending champion, Max Verstappen of the Netherlands.
“I was giving it everything,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. “The team did a great job this past week adjusting our set-up.
“This is the first weekend I’ve not gone crazy with set-up and am not testing many things, so I’m back to a bit more normal. I think we’ve got the car into a much nicer working window, and it’s been delightful driving; the guys are just a little bit faster.”
He added: “We were a second or just over a second off last year to the Red Bull, and seven-tenths is better. Maybe if we had done something a little bit differently, we could have been another tenth faster, but other than that, it was everything.
“I think what it’s giving us is I know exactly where the car is not strong enough, I can feel it in the car, and I know now to be telling them to ‘push in this particular area.’ But I’m hoping the race will be stronger.”
Hamilton is looking to get his season back on track this weekend in Japan following modest results in the first three races, and he has only eight points after he did not finish in the previous race in Australia.
“What we have noticed is a track to track; it has been hard to get the set-up right, and it has been so far out each time,” he said. “In some places, it has felt like nothing we can do to get the car in a sweet spot.
“But this weekend, it’s much more in the sweet spot, so I hope that continues in the following races. Then we’ve just got to add performance.”
Hamilton is 10th in the drivers’ standings – 43 points behind Verstappen, while Mercedes are fourth on 26 points in the constructors’ standings – 71 behind leaders and reigning champions Red Bull Racing.
and then 