Lewis Hamilton concluded his 2022 Formula 1 pre-season testing this morning by taking part in the morning session behind the wheel of the Mercedes W13 E Performance.
The 7-time world champion did not concentrate at all on single lap simulations, but only on the grand prix one. Three stints performed with the three compounds that Pirelli will make available to the teams at the Bahrain Grand Prix, scheduled for next week, again at the Sakhir track.
Hamilton started the first stint with C3 compound tires (which will be the Soft in a week), then moved on to C2 and then to C1 for the final one. It is useless to try to extrapolate performance meanings from what we have seen, but the chronology shows a very consistent W13 with all three compounds.
Furthermore, the race simulation was done in very hot conditions. High sun and hot asphalt certainly did not help performance, but the W13 showed some margin which, according to what Hamilton said, will probably be extrapolated with the work of several weeks.
“Obviously it’s a bit too early to think about not fighting for the championship but, at the moment, I don’t think Mercedes is competing to win.” By itself, this claim would already be a potential title. But we need to go deeper. Mercedes has realized that they have a project with great potential, but difficult to develop.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, comes out of the garage
Photo by: Motorsport Images
“But there is potential within the W13 to get to win. We just need to be able to extract it and fix some problems we have. And that’s what we’re working on,” explained Hamilton.
“It’s not just a matter of set-up changes. It’s something different. We won’t be able to make the car look as good as we did last year. We have a very big challenge ahead of us and it won’t be a matter of a week.”
“I honestly think it will take a little longer. But from what I have been told we have so much potential to extract.”
“Everyone is doing an incredible job. In the factory they are working as hard as they can. But we have some obstacles to overcome. Obviously next week we will have a better demonstration of what our pace is, but I think people will probably be surprised.”
The start of the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship is just a week away. According to Hamilton’s words, therefore, Mercedes will not arrive ready for Sakhir to fight for the victory. Yesterday he had already pointed out that Red Bull and Ferrari already seemed more ready than the W13. But if the potential is what Mercedes men think is present, the Silver Arrow could be a late contender for the title. But dangerous.
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