Lewis Hamilton Laughs at Toto Wolff & Co.’s Downfall as Both Mercedes Drivers Fail to Finish the Race in Australia

The 2024 Australian Grand Prix concluded and it was surely the worst weekend of Lewis Hamilton‘s season so far. On top of suffering through all the practice sessions and qualifying, the Brit’s race ended early after an engine failure. However, this piled-on disappointment did not frustrate the Brit. In fact, his reaction after the race was more hysterical than despair, which stems from Mercedes‘ continued downfall as both Hamilton and Russell failed to finish the race.

To put things in perspective, no team on the grid is on the same level as they were in 2022. Starting the third year of regulations, all teams are expected to get a better understanding of their cars and get better in terms of performance. However, not Mercedes! The Brackley outfit is still struggling with their challenger and the Australian GP made it evident. In fact, Hamilton even confessed the team was going backward instead of closing the gap to the front runners. However, since his future is sealed, we have a feeling the Brit can’t help but laugh at the drop in performance of Toto Wolff and Co. and he showcased that during the post-Australian GP race interview.

When asked what was the problem with the car, Hamilton said, “I think the engine seized” before letting out a little chuckle. To follow up, the reporter asked, “When did you know that there was an issue?”

To this Hamilton replied, “It just appeared out of nowhere, it was like a split-second thing.” To pile on the misery, the interviewer wanted to get his thoughts on the gap between himself and Perez during the race or the W15 and RB20 in general. To this, he added, “Oh there’s a massive gap. I think they have a second on us or something like that. He was on fresh tires but just the way he pulled away down the straight I was like… same as last year.” 

Following his engine failure, his teammate George Russell also had a massive shunt and crashed out of the race concluding an extremely disappointing weekend for the team. The Brit is surely perplexed by the car’s performance the entire weekend. In fact, Hamilton confessed the unreliability of the W15 was playing mind tricks on him.

Lewis Hamilton admits the fickle output of the W15 is messing with his mind

Hamilton’s Australian GP was troublesome from start to finish. The car was performing in waves, with the output varying from one session to the other. This was the case in FP3 and qualifying as well. The Brit enjoyed a relatively positive outing in FP3 but was knocked out in Q2. In fact, his teammate has out-qualified him in all three races of the season. So when speaking about the W15, Hamilton revealed how the car’s messing with his mind.

Hamilton said, “It felt great in P3. It was strange because we were right there with these guys and we didn’t really understand why. But then going into qualifying, it’s just another inconsistency within the car, it really messes with the mind.”

He further added, “I think our car is on a bit of a knife edge. In the afternoon here the wind picks up, the same as P2. P1 was a bit better and then when the wind picks up, the car becomes a lot more unstable. And then this morning was nice with calmer wind, and then as soon as the wind picks up it gets a little bit less stable.”

Read More: “It’s Three Years in a Row”: Dejected Lewis Hamilton Goes on a Brutal Rant As Toto Wolff & Co’s Issues Reach Tipping Point

We can’t help but agree with Hamilton, as the state of the Mercedes cars in the past two seasons has confused us all. We’re not sure if the Brackley outfit will be able to catch up before the end of the season. However, for now, the Brit looks to be counting his days.