Lewis Hamilton stressed his disappointment with a 10th-place finish at the Saudi Arabia GP. The Brit endured a nightmare practice session on Friday, followed by his worst qualifying session since 2009, as he began the race in P16.
The Mercedes star improved on his start but is still a far cry from the performances we have become accustomed to seeing in recent years. The seven-time champion was seen hunched over at the end of the race and in his post-race interview, he addressed the Silver Arrows’ current struggles.
“Right now, we’re not fighting for the top step. We’re so far off the guys up ahead. We’ve got a lot of work to do,” the 37-year-old surmised. “I don’t particularly feel like we have made improvements. All I know is that I couldn’t keep up with the Haas in the end.
“The power they have, they came slingshotting past me when I overtook Magnussen earlier in the race.” When asked how far off the pace he felt, Hamilton added: “It feels like a long way away. We’re still really down on speed. It’s not just one fix, it’s several things.
“I don’t really know but I’ll have to speak to the team. It’s definitely gutting but I got one point at least and we’ll work hard. At least we both got points for the team.” Hamilton was initially unaware that a 10th-placed finish was worth any points.
As he crossed the finish line at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Hamilton's race engineer Peter Bonnington said: “OK Lewis, that’s P10. Sorry about that.” Hamilton replied: “Is there even a point for that position?”
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Teammate George Russell finished fifth and believes virtually all of Mercedes’ problems would be solved if they were able to eradicate porpoising, which has affected them since pre-season testing. “The faster you go the worse it (porpoising) gets, so it makes it harder for qualifying because we turn the engines up, maximum power, go quicker down the straight which causes more downforce and causes more porpoising," Russell explained.
"So we almost need to pre-empt this issue and also in the race when you have the DRS closed, you have more downforce than you do with the DRS open, and that's another factor we need to consider. We're still learning and that's why we're far from optimal. But that's why I said if we solve the porpoising, that would cure I would say 99% of our issues."
