Lewis Hamilton “perplexed” by Mercedes’ surprisingly competitive pace
After dominating both free practice sessions on the Las Vegas circuit, Lewis Hamilton was perplexed by the pace set by Mercedes.
The seven-time world champion outpaced the Ferraris and McLarens to set the fastest lap of the day, while drivers throughout the grid struggled to exploit the performance on a low-grip circuit.
His teammate George Russell also impressed, finishing in second and third position in the two sessions, indicating that the team seems to be the one to beat for tomorrow’s qualifying. The British duo has had a season of ups and downs, alternating between wins, podiums, and struggles to find a consistent rhythm, sometimes even failing to reach Q3.
Asked about this promising start in Las Vegas, Lewis Hamilton said, “This is the first time this year that I’ve had a day like this. The car behaved well overall in FP1, a bit less in FP2. It’s difficult to know exactly where we stand or why we’re here, but I really enjoy driving on this track. We’ll see if the car remains the same tomorrow.”
« The race pace is not exceptional, so our work tonight will be to understand how to improve this pace without losing performance on one lap. But it was nice to be able to link the sectors without the car surprising me, which was good.
« I know that it’s not my behavior that causes the team’s inconsistency issues, he added. With Lando Norris only 0.011 seconds behind him in FP2 and Ferrari fast, the leaders seem far from predictable.
George Russell also surprised
George Russell was also surprised by the positive results on the cold and dusty track of Las Vegas, calling it a pleasant surprise.
« I would like to be able to tell you why, to be honest, but we are scratching our heads a bit to understand why it was so positive, he explained.
(Of) Of course, it was only practice. Lewis also did a great job, he was competitive from the first lap today, and the car worked well. But we are on an urban circuit, it is very dirty, and lap times will continue to improve lap after lap. Being fast today does not necessarily mean that we will still be tomorrow, because the track could be three seconds faster.
George Russell also dismissed the idea that Mercedes seems strong on the first day before losing to its rivals in qualifying, calling it a little unfair.
« It’s more a question of our competitors’ strategy. They are not using their full power, they may be running with more fuel than us on Fridays. Historically, they hide a bit of their performance and, when they go all out, they get back to their usual level. It’s possible that this will happen again tomorrow, but the gap we showed today was quite significant. I’m sure our rivals will work hard tonight to reduce this gap, but I hope we can continue on this momentum. »
