Lewis Hamilton Faces Trouble with Mercedes W13 Challenger in Barcelona Tests

Lewis Hamilton took the wheel of his 2022 challenger W-13 on day 3 of the pre-season testing at Circuit de Barcelona. However, it was not the best day at the office for the seven-time world champion. After a delayed start, he could only manage 40 laps due to a sensor problem. The Mercedes man is gunning for a record 8th championship as he enters the new era of F1. He is surely a fan of changing orders. Hamilton entered the turbo-hybrid era in 2014 as a single world champion and is finally leaving after 2021 as arguably the greatest driver ever.

A controversial Abu Dhabi finale shattered his dream of winning an 8th world title. Keeping that in mind, FIA has made some structural changes in the racing committee to avoid any such situations again.

The Mercedes team has pledged to “move on” from the dramatic events. Moreover, Hamilton and Russell will look to mount a serious title challenge this season. In a recent update, Hamilton faced some issues with W-13 in the morning session yesterday, which restricted him to just 40 laps.

His teammate George Russell, who took the wheel in the afternoon, clocked 66 laps on the Hard rubbers. Andrew Shovlin, trackside engineering director at Mercedes F1 team, spoke about the issues with Lewis’ car at length.

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Lewis Hamilton had a rough outing at Circuit de Barcelona

The Mercedes luminary is counting his chances on the all-new W-13 this season to become the greatest ever F1 driver. Moreover, Hamilton has great faith in his team as they have been constantly delivering up to his potential.

However, last morning wasn’t an ideal one for the Briton. Shovlin told the F1 website Motorsport.com, the problems W-13 was facing that forced Hamilton out of the car after 40 laps, which was not even close to a race distance.

“We had a rough morning with Lewis, we had a telemetry issue that delayed our start to the day, and we were struggling with balance issues in general. Some of it was perhaps due to the settings we tested or the harder tyres,” said Shovlin.

“As a result, we were able to do a number of laps, but unfortunately we had a sensor issue that prevented us from doing further performance work, so we had to take an early lunch break to fix it. We have a lot of things to work on in terms of performance, but we continue to learn something with each passing lap. We think that will make us faster,” added the Mercedes director.

Now, the teams will push hard on the last day of pre-season testing at Barcelona before reaching Bahrain in two weeks’ time. With the major regulations changes, fans are now expecting a level playing field, alongside closer wheel-to-wheel racing. Tell us who you are rooting for in the all-new 2022 F1 challenge.

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