Two years ago, during the 2022 Imola GP, Lewis Hamilton struggled the entire race, spending it behind the Alpha Tauri of Pierre Gasly. It was difficult to see the 7-time world champion not make any points in the race. Hamilton started the race at P14 and gained one position during the race, which was a disappointing P13 for him. Luckily, he has a better place on the starting grid this year, but the irony continues.

Although it’s not Pierre Gasly who is starting ahead of him, it will be rebranded AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda, who has been extremely quick around the tracks recently. During the first day, he surprised everyone by coming in the 3rd quickest, beating Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. And this will be a big problem for Hamilton if he does not take care of it correctly.

Lewis Hamilton feels the pressure from VCARB before the Imola GP

After the qualifiers were done and Max Verstappen matched Ayrton Senna’s record of 8 consecutive poles, Hamilton spoke about his take on the upcoming race. “It’s gonna be a difficult race,” said Hamilton after he finished 8th fastest in the qualifiers. Considering that Yuki Tsunoda is starting ahead of him on the grid, he continued, “I think we’re there, thereabouts, in terms of race pace… If I can get past Tsunoda, that would be great, and if George and I can hold those positions or progress, that would be amazing too. We just gotta see how we go.”

Hamilton knows what he needs to do and what he can do with the W15. He is very clear about how he does not like the car, and it’s visible in his results. We are talking about the man who has won 103 races here, and all he can currently say about the race is that he would like to jump a position ahead. Lewis Hamilton has been one of the most iconic drivers in the sport, and after his reign, even Red Bull’s second team is bothersome for him. That has many people asking the crucial question.

What can we expect from Mercedes at the Imola GP?

Starting eighth for Lewis Hamilton and sixth for George Russell is not the worst result. They have had a decent time so far during the first day when it came to making pace, but FP3 was not that favorable. From what Lewis Hamilton has said, it looks like he will want to fight against VCARB, the team that denied him any points during the 2022 Imola GP. Hamilton’s personal best came in at 1:15.504, which was just a few hundredths of a second slower than Yuki Tsunoda.

Considering that both cars have a similar pace, Hamilton can put Tsunoda behind. On the other hand, the race looks much harder for George Russell, who will be behind the Ferraris on the starting grid, and things only get harder from there. McLaren has made some strides in their car, and it’s been visible ever since Miami.

George Russell will have to battle Ferrari, McLaren, and Max Verstappen, which is a difficult job, especially in the W15. That being said, do you think that Lewis Hamilton will stick to his plan of beating Tsunoda and maintaining his position in the race? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.