Slating his W15 at the Brazilian Grand Prix as the
“worst” the car has ever been, Guenther Steiner reckons Lewis Hamilton “doesn’t
like” the Mercedes and no longer feels the need to hold back.
Hamilton scored
a single point at the Interlagos circuit, his fourth last race with Mercedes,
as he struggled with bouncing and a lack of pace in both the dry and wet.
Guenther Steiner weighs in on Lewis Hamilton’s W15
complaints
Making his way back to the pits after qualifying on
Sunday morning having been eliminated in Q1, he uttered “damn car” before
telling the media: “The car I have right now, it’s the worst I’ve ever driven.”
He recovered to score a single point in the 71-lap race
but even then had nothing nice to say about his Mercedes.
“That
was a disaster weekend, guys,” he radioed to Mercedes after taking the
chequered flag in 10th place. “That’s the worst the car’s ever been.”
Again he didn’t hold back with the media: “It’s like a
plank of wood. There’s no suspension. It’s just bouncing on the tyres,
everywhere. Can’t get on the power anywhere. The worst ride definitely that
we’ve ever had.”
Leaving Brazil with one point when George Russell scored
15, former F1 team boss Steiner was asked for his thoughts on what’s going on
at Mercedes.
“The car is what it is. It’s not the best car, it’s the
fourth best car at the moment on a good day,” he told the Red Flag podcast.
“I think Lewis knowing that he’s leaving anyway, it’s easier to complain.
“George has got all the interest to do to whatever is
there to show that he’s the leader of the team for the future. He has to prove
that, because he knows that because he knows that when his Mercedes contract is
up, his seat is not 100 per cent safe so he just tries to do his best, puts
everything into it.
“And on the other side, Lewis doesn’t like the car and how it drives, knows that now in three races he’s not there anymore.”
