Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes needs to “make sure” they change their ideas for 2024, after a load imbalance on the car led to Hamilton and team-mate Russell failing to qualify at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The pair could only manage seventh and eighth, with Hamilton ahead, and both were more than a second behind the great Max Verstappen.
Much of that time was lost in the first sector of the circuit, with Mercedes clearly falling behind in this area compared to Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari.
This represents even more inconsistency for the team in a disappointing season that has seen them fight for pole and win in one week (like last time in Singapore), then have to fight for a top 5 spot the following week.
Hamilton seemed disappointed after qualifying. “Yesterday was a bad day,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“This weekend, out of three days, there was at least one bad day. Yesterday the balance was not good. We made big changes, worked through the night and overall the car feels very good today. It’s great to drive FP3, I’m starting.” felt a lot more confident and then in qualifying I tried my best. “The seven-tenths deficit we had in the first district was just behind. Our vehicle has a lot of load in the front and not as much as we need in the back. So we are very far from that number. “For me, it’s clearly a concept and we need to make sure we change that next year, which we hope to do. “
The job next season – for Mercedes and every other team on the grid – will be to try and hunt down the Red Bull team that has dominated the past two seasons.
Mercedes recently tied down two of its star drivers to a contract until at least the end of 2025, but they need to start providing them with a car capable of winning races regularly. Hamilton’s most recent victory came at the 2021 Saudi GP, and the team has only claimed one more victory since then.
They are now focused on second place in the constructors’ championship with Ferrari behind, but Hamilton believes the gap to Red Bull can be closed.
“It’s a big gap that we need to close next year, but if you’ve seen what Astons have done this year,” he continued.
“They can make big strides, we’ve seen what McLaren has done this year. By going the Red Bull route, they are now ahead of us.” I just tried my best, I’m happy with my lap. They’re just not as fast as everyone else.