Mercedes F1 Accept Harsh Reality of Improved British GP Performance With Lewis Hamilton

The British Grand Prix was a strong weekend for the team based out of Brixworth and Brackley. Their star driver, Lewis Hamilton, grabbed a podium finish after racing against the Red Bull and the Ferrari at Silverstone. Notably, it was a podium on merit for Mercedes.

Last weekend was a major race for the Mercedes camp for two reasons. It served as the home race for both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton and was the first race with the constructor’s new upgrades for its underperforming W13.

For a large part of the 2022 season, the car has held back the 37-year-old in quest of his eighth world title and he has fallen behind in the pecking order.

Nonetheless, the P3 result put the homeboy hero and the team in high spirits. It showed that the new parts introduced to the race car make it more efficient and Mercedes is on a bounce back. Following the British GP, in a race debrief on YouTube, the German racing stable opined on its performance.

Mercedes trackside engineer Andrew Shovlin answered some queries from F1 twitter. One Twitter fan asked, “Lewis’ pace this weekend was matching the Ferrari’s and sometimes he was faster. Was that because you could run the car a lot closer to the ground? Because of the smooth track? Or because of the upgrades?”

 In reply, Shovlin said, “Well, the reality in terms of how we were running the car, that was quite normal for ride heights and everything. But it is a smooth circuit, and while we’re working to make sure that our car works well on bumpy tracks, we’ve still got a bit to do there.”

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“So, no doubt the smooth track helped a bit towards that performance, and then also yes, the updates did play a part and that was encouraging to see because that’s the bit that we’ll carry into the next race, the race beyond but we need to build on this performance because we know that we are not quite quick enough just yet,” he added. 

Lewis Hamilton is on a high ahead of the Austria GP

The 37-year-old did not have a strong start to the season. At every race weekend, he fought with the car and could not extract its peak performance. On multiple occasions, he complained over the radio about enduring the challenges that the W13 presented.

Nevertheless, as Hamilton is one of the best drivers to race in Formula 1, the whole paddock knew that if anyone could turn it around, it would be him. The recent stint of performances points toward the resurgence of the F1 star. Championship mentality is the secret behind his extraordinary success.

The No.44 driver, who has picked up consecutive podiums, will enter the Austrian GP at the Red Bull Ring high on confidence.

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The 11th round of the 2022 championship will be a home race for Red Bull, i.e. it will witness an orange army takeover. Max Verstappen fans will cheer loudly for their beloved driver and will ensure that his 2021 championship rival hears their voices as he takes to the track.

It will be a great spectacle to see if Hamilton can keep his head down and get the job done on enemy soil. Do you think Lewis Hamilton has rediscovered himself in the 2022 championship?