Lewis Hamilton is hoping for rainy qualifying at Spa Francorchamps because he feels the W15 performs better under challenging conditions.
After Free Practice One and Free Practice Two, Hamilton was dissatisfied with how the vehicle performed. The seven-time world champion finished sixth in the first hour of practice, tenth in the second, and trailed teammate George Russell throughout both sessions.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team has improved significantly in recent races, winning two of the past three at Silverstone and the Red Bull Ring, but their pace at the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix does not appear to be competitive with Oracle Red Bull Racing or McLaren F1 Team.
Hamilton told F1TV: “It’s a fairly awful day; I don’t know what to say! It’s been feeling terrific for the last few races, but today felt entirely different.
“We worked on it; the first session was not fantastic, but the second session started off OK, but when we switched to the soft tire, it just didn’t improve. We had a lot of balance concerns during the lap, but it improved in FP2, but everyone else simply went faster. To be 1.2 seconds behind isn’t ideal.”
Rain is anticipated on Saturday for Free Practice Three and qualifying, and although the weather is never guaranteed at Spa, Hamilton is hoping for wet conditions since he feels it might provide a few choices for the Brackley-based team.
“If we try, we won’t be in the best of circumstances right now, but we can definitely make some adjustments overnight. If it rains, it opens things up a little and allows us to do better; the automobile should perform better in the rain.
Be the first to comment