Off to a the ‘worst brutal’ start, Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton struggle for understanding

Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton struggle to understand each other Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton struggle to understand each other at the beginning of their ‘cruelest’ departure.

Hamilton and Mercedes entered the final season of their hugely successful F1 partnership ahead of him knowing there would be expectations they would have to manage.

The difficulties caused by poor driving over the past two years have left Hamilton feeling particularly… Instead, 2024 will be much the same as the past two years. A podium for sure, probably a win here would be a success. Standing in the media enclosure in Melbourne on Sunday, Hamilton half-watched him explain his early retirement, fully aware of how differently things were unfolding. He flew halfway around the world, qualified 11th, and completed 15 laps on race day. “This is the worst start to the season ever,” he said. “Do you think it’s even worse than 2009?” he smiled, asking for confirmation of these sad statistics. That’s for sure. 2009 is widely considered the low point of Hamilton’s early career, with McLaren falling far behind its rivals. He started the year in 3rd place in Australia (the opening race at the time) and was disqualified, finishing in 6th and 7th place. He finished 7th, 9th, and DNF in three races this year. Conclusion F1 Australian GP: Ferrari leads, Mercedes loses at sea

After Mercedes’ optimistic winter outlook that the fundamental problems that have made recent years miserable will be resolved, it’s not easy to lower expectations so quickly.

“It’s tough on the spirit of the whole team,” Hamilton said. “You might think you’re going to fight for the win, but obviously you’re not. Then you say, ‘Okay, I’m second or third,’ but you’re not, you’re a little bit further down. “You just have to go through the motions, and it’s hard.”

What’s impressive about Hamilton is his lack of anger or frustration, just acceptance of the situation. “Surprisingly, I feel really good,” he said. “I try to look at things objectively, you know? It could have been a lot worse.”

Failure is not unique to Hamilton. Teammate George Russell had led in qualifying in all three races to date, but a crash on the penultimate lap while running seventh in Australia meant he could only record fifth and sixth. At this point he was 50 seconds behind race leader Carlos Sainz. Ferrari.

That’s a big difference, especially after the close games between the two teams at the end of last year. Mercedes had thought it would arrive at the Ferrari Stadium for the opening race in Bahrain, but cooling problems meant both cars lost significant time. After Sainz’s win on Sunday, the difference looks huge. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has admitted that the start to the season has been “extremely painful” given the result in Australia. No matter how optimistic he wanted to be about the future, it was hard to resist getting either car to the checkered flag. “Today, that seems very, very, very cruel,” he said.

Wolff described this as a “physical problem rather than a philosophical or organizational problem” currently facing Mercedes. This is essentially the same team that won an eighth consecutive world championship, the longest in F1 history, just three years ago, and the foundations of that success will not be lost overnight. “I don’t think we’re missing anything, it’s just complicating what’s going on with the car that we don’t see,” Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said in Australia. Told. (Clive Rose/Getty Images)

The W15 eliminated many of the worst elements of his previous two cars. Questions about suspension, gearboxes and steering racks answered. But the biggest problem is that there is no correlation between the wind tunnel and what Mercedes is actually seeing. He doesn’t understand why the car behaves the way it does when out on the track. This causes Hamilton and Russell to lose the stability of their car’s balance. Hamilton said he was “really confused” as he searched for answers after missing Q3 on Saturday. “Everything I’ve ever done in my career, whether it’s finance or investing, I know which screws to tighten,” Wolf said. “Sometimes it takes time because I knew what I was missing when I was at Williams. “But I don’t think we’re missing anything here. It’s just a complex phenomenon that we can’t see what’s going on with the car. It’s like a switch. ”

Like Hamilton, Wolff understands and accepts Mercedes’ situation. There is no illusion that the problem will be solved instantly. This forced Wolf to adjust his approach. Unlike the past two years, the race will not be declared a disaster or the “worst weekend of 13 races” as was the case in Brazil last year. This disappointment has been replaced by calm realism and thoughtful design.

“As Austrians, we always look at things clearly with our hearts,” explains Wolff. “The Austrian would say, ‘That’s really rubbish.’ The British would say, ‘That’s interesting.’ So I had to change the way I communicated to avoid putting more pressure on my team. Because it can divide the team. “The reason we’re not competitive is not for lack of effort. That’s why I like to help, encourage, and say, “This is fun.”

Preparations for Wolff’s press conference were interrupted by applause and singing from the adjacent hospitality sector. There, Ferrari was preparing a team photo to celebrate Sainz’s victory and Charles Leclerc’s P2. Twelve months ago, the team failed to pick up a single point in Australia due to Leclerc’s retirement and Sainz’s penalty. McLaren, who finished third and fourth on Sunday, only lost a few points due to confusion late in the race. Here he finished third and fourth. Their success gave Wolfe optimism. “On the one hand, I want to punch myself in the nose,” Wolf said. “But on the other hand, this is proof that if you do things right, you can quickly change things.” You just have to keep believing in it. But these are very, very difficult times. »

Mercedes also believes Hamilton will remain fully committed to improving the situation, even in his final season with the team. “Lewis is the best,” Wolf said. “Obviously, he’s in a very uncomfortable situation on the one hand to see us not understanding this. On the other hand, if you look on the other side of the fence (Ferrari), there are some pretty good things happening there. But today, that’s not his priority. ”

With 21 races left, Hamilton and Mercedes have plenty of chances to do better. The question now is how they define this success and how much further they need to temper their aspirations

for this swan song campaign.