F1 | Hamilton: “Surprised by the grip of the W15, it’s an excellent start”

It is a Mercedes that looks very positively at the rest of the Monegasque weekend after the first day of testing in Monte Carlo. Of course, it’s not the first time during this season that the Brackley team ends Friday with a smile only to then come up against a harsh and bitter reality on Saturday and Sunday, when we move from the words of free practice to the concrete facts of qualifying. and the race.

However, on a unique track in the calendar, where rather specific aspects and the confidence of the driver behind the wheel at the decisive moment count, Mercedes has a different feeling of confidence compared to other occasions, but without getting carried away by enthusiasm, because few details can change the scenarios again.

The good performance of the W15 on Friday, however, also surprised the drivers in a certain sense, especially due to the grip offered by the car, which was significantly superior to other Mercedes cars of the ground effect era.

“It was a good day, definitely the best we’ve had on track this year. I think the car was very competitive, I enjoyed driving it. The track is fantastic. And the grip was pretty good. I think I still have some problems with the balance, but overall it’s a good start,” explained Hamilton at the end of the day, underlining the good start to the weekend.

“The surprise was the level of grip and the way the car reacted here. It was certainly a more pleasant lap than the last two years”, added the seven-time world champion, making a comparison with the other Mercedes of 2022 and 2023, before underlining how, however, there is still work to be done to succeed to find better behavior over long distances.

Clearly the race pace in Monaco is a relative matter, of secondary importance given the peculiarities of the track, but this does not mean that it is important to find a good compromise to make the tire last and reduce graining, also to have greater confidence during the stint on a track that doesn’t forgive mistakes: “I think that in the second session, I don’t know if we improved or not, certainly on the long runs we still have a lot of work to do to make sure we can get to the end of the race. But on the flying lap it is very positive. We just need to improve the pace on the long run and the graining,” said Lewis Hamilton.

Teammate George Russell was also satisfied, although in his case the ranking does not fully reflect the value of what he felt in the car. If Lewis Hamilton finished in second place, less than two tenths behind Charles Leclerc, the real reference point of the day, the other Stella standard bearer did not go beyond tenth position due to some problems

George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

“As soon as I touched the brakes, the whole car started shaking, I don’t know what was happening. I tried my best, like a gorilla, gripping the steering wheel as best I could, but it kept shaking. So, on a track like this, where you need confidence to attack corners, this really put us in difficulty and we decided it was better to close the day and analyze what was happening”, said Russell, explaining the problems that have limited in FP2.

“Overall, though, the car performed very well today. In FP1 we were in third place, I think, and then Lewis in second place in the afternoon. Clearly the car is working well, but Charles is ahead of everyone,” added the Englishman, also underlining that the track record could be adjusted tomorrow given the potential seen today in free practice. Naturally, in qualifying you look for the limit, removing those last tenths by touching those walls from which on Friday you try to have a margin so as not to damage the car.

Mercedes knows how things can change from one day to the next, but Russell is aiming for at least a place in the top five to be satisfied: “I say top 5, I hope to get at least in the top five, but things change so quickly in Monaco, there are many such surprises.”