Aston Martin has been the second-best car for most of the season. But Mercedes took over that at the Spanish GP. Nevertheless, it wasn’t long before Aston Martin brought upgrades to Canada and established authority over that 2nd spot again. Now, with Mercedes returning back to square 1 in Austria, Lewis Hamilton issues a meh response despite Toto Wolff’s bleak optimism. What was Hamilton’s response?

Mercedes has been on a rising trajectory ever since the huge upgrades arrived in Monaco. Podiums in Spain and Canada confirmed that the upgrades are working. However, there’s still a long way to go before catching Red Bull. Nevertheless, Toto Wolff suggested that the team is making decent steps with every step getting bigger. However, the qualifying session in Austria portrayed a very different image.

The Ferrari was neck and neck and with the Red Bull as the two teams battled for pace. George Russell was eliminated in Q2 whereas Lewis Hamilton only managed P5. Toto Wolff suggested that the time gap to the top teams isn’t huge and with the upgrade package coming for Silverstone, Mercedes hopes to see a step up like Ferrari made in Austria. 

Lewis Hamilton did not seem impressed with his W14 and its performance. Despite Toto Wolff’s positive comments and optimism, Mercedes doesn’t seem to have what it takes to get on the podium once again. According to a Tweet posted by @fiagirly, Lewis Hamilton during the post-qualifying interview said “Meh. It’s not P1, but I’ll take it and I’ll try to work with it [on Sunday].”

The meh response suggests that Hamilton isn’t happy with the position and expected more out of the car. However, he doesn’t give up and is ready to work with whatever he has at his disposal. 

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Lewis Hamilton advises Red Bull and Ferrari ahead of Mercedes in race pace

Despite the fact that Ferrari generally struggles during the races and had an inferior race pace to Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton suggested that Red Bull and Ferrari were faster on race pace than Mercedes during the practice session. This might be down to upgrades that Ferrari has brought. It will be close between Mercedes and Aston Martin. Nevertheless, Lewis Hamilton hopes for a strong race starting close enough to a podium position.

According to @JunaidSamodien_’s Tweet, Lewis Hamilton said “I think our race pace was around third fastest at the time. The Red Bull’s and Ferrari were quickest or Aston’s… or maybe we’re fourth. I am not quite sure exactly. We will just try and do better in Sprint qualifying tomorrow, and we start P5 so I am hoping we can have a good race from there.”

What do you think? Will Mercedes be able to win a race this season? Has Ferrari overtaken Mercedes in the development battle?

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