Since the start of the Formula 1 season, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has found it challenging to outqualify his Mercedes teammate George Russell, managing to do so only twice. Last Sunday in Austria, Russell secured a significant victory, marking the first win for the “Silver Arrows” since the end of 2022.
As Hamilton prepares for his home Grand Prix in Great Britain, he addressed the media to discuss the difficulties he has faced in qualifying. Despite his illustrious career, the seven-time champion has often found himself overshadowed by Russell, starting ahead of his teammate only in Japan and Spain.
Hamilton attributes his one-lap deficit to issues with tire management. He emphasized that he is working diligently to address these problems, especially with half a season remaining with Mercedes.
“I’m doing a lot of analysis, asking the team for information on how we can improve what’s holding us back. It’s about the tires. I’ll just keep improving my handling of them with each session. In qualifying, things usually change because the cars get lighter and we use more DRS. Time will tell, but I think we’ve found a solution, and now we need to implement it,” Hamilton said.
“I think the team as a whole feels great energy, knowing that we’ve finally found the right direction to work in. The energy is back at the factory; people are definitely walking with more confidence. For me, it’s certainly a good feeling to be competitive again. We just want to maintain that for longer. We don’t want to rush things, that’s for sure,” Hamilton added.