Lewis Hamilton has vowed to offer a $1million prize to
anyone who can work out why the Mercedes W15 remains so inconsistent at this
late stage of the F1 2024 season.
Having suffered two consecutive winless seasons in
2022/23, Hamilton returned
to the top step of the podium earlier this year by taking an emotional home win
at his home race at Silverstone.
Lewis Hamilton wants answer to million-dollar Mercedes
W15 question
The seven-time World Champion followed that up with
another win at Spa weeks later, collecting a record-extending 105th career
victory.
Despite growing confidence that Mercedes have
finally cracked the demands of the ground-effect regulations, the team have
largely struggled since the summer break with Hamilton finishing no higher than
fourth across the last seven races.
His season slumped to a new low at last weekend’s
Brazilian Grand Prix, where he described the car as “the worst” it’s ever been
over team radio.
Having announced in February that he will join Ferrari on a
multi-year contract from F1 2025, Hamilton has just three races left with
Mercedes before parting ways with the German manufacturer.
And he has described the second half of the season as
“devastating” having hoped to end on a high with the Brackley-based outfit.
He told reporters in Sao Paulo: “It doesn’t feel good,
obviously.
“It’s devastating to have these bad races in the second half
of the season, but all I can say is we’re trying coming into the weekends, but
it’s definitely not acceptable. It’s definitely not good enough.
“We have to take accountability, I have to take
accountability, but I am doing the best with what I’ve got.
“For some reason, the car has been the worst of it this
weekend and I don’t know what it is. We’re going to have to find out what it
is.
“But still, the mechanics did a great job getting here early
this morning, practice [pit] stops at 4am and all the work they’ve done on the
car throughout the weekend.
“One of the cars was working a lot better, so there’s
obviously potential still there.”
Asked why the Mercedes is still so temperamental, he
laughed: “You tell me. That’s the million-dollar question. So if you can find
it, I’ll give you a million dollars.”
Hamilton had the honour of driving the title-winning 1990
McLaren of his boyhood idol, Ayrton Senna, ahead of Sunday’s race as Interlagos
marked the 30th anniversary of the F1 legend’s death.
The 39-year-old described it as the highlight of his weekend, with the Mercedes W15 “no good” by comparison.
.webp)
