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Lewis Hamilton says the Mercedes W14 still has “some of the balance limitations that we had last year”, but the team is “working through them”.
After struggling with his car on day 2 of pre-season testing, Lewis Hamilton gave his comments on Mercedes’ issues, just before hopping into the W14 for his final testing session.
“They’re just things that we’re working through,” the Briton said.
“Some of the balance limitations that we had last year are just present. So we’re working through them.”
Even his team-mate George Russell experienced car issues yesterday, when his car suffered a hydraulic failure. Lewis admits testing has not been easy so far.
“I think it’s difficult to sum it up. I think we’ve had a couple of difficult days. Yesterday, particularly, was difficult.
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“The first day didn’t feel too bad, yesterday was a little bit more of a struggle. I think George has had a much better morning today, a bit like the first day.
“I get to go in half an hour, so hopefully we’ve got the set up in a bit of a better place.”
In 2022 Mercedes especially struggled with porpoising, but Lewis says it is basically gone this year.
“Right now, the bouncing that we had has pretty much gone, so that’s a huge step for us.
“It’s nice to drive without the bouncing for once. But there are still some underlying things that we have been working through.”
The Briton also praised his team for remaining positive despite the difficulties they faced last year.
“I’m really proud of everyone in the team for continuing to remain positive after a tough year last year. Amazing work through winter for us to arrive and have the mileage that we’ve had.
“I’ve been here a long, long time and every single year they arrive with the same mental focus and determination to fix whatever issues we have.
“So I enjoy being in the offices, they’re back there just churning away, going through the data and really proud of everyone in the garage.
“So we’ll hopefully get there,” Hamilton concluded.
