Lewis Hamilton had a decent start to the Chinese GP with the sprint race. However, things only went downhill for the seven-time world champion after finishing second in the sprint. The 39-year-old had a frustrating outing in Shanghai on Sunday, finishing in ninth place. Hamilton admitted his mistake on the team radio after the race.
As the Briton crossed the chequered flag, race engineer Bono informed Lewis Hamilton that he ended the race in P9. Bono acknowledged that it had been a difficult outing for the seven-time world champion and Mercedes. However, the race engineer was confident that Hamilton would bounce back stronger at the next race.
That’s P9, mate. It was a real tough day in the office there, mate but we’ll go and figure it out. Bono told Lewis Hamilton on team radio
Lewis Hamilton had changed his car set-up after the sprint race. The seven-time world champion had accepted this change to be the reason for his poor performance in Qualifying. Subsequently, Hamilton claimed that he would never make such a set-up tweak again. The Briton went on to thank his team for its efforts in pitstops.
Yep! I won’t make that set-up change again, Bono. That was my bad. Thank you guys, and good job on the pit stops. Lewis Hamilton replied to the Mercedes pitwall
Lewis Hamilton felt like ‘something was broken’ in the Mercedes W15 during Chinese GP
The seven-time world champion had a disastrous stint on soft tires at the start of the Chinese GP. Lewis Hamilton was forced to make a pitstop seven laps earlier than planned. However, even a change to the medium compound tire did not help matters as the Briton continued to struggle with car.
Lewis Hamilton complained on the team radio during the race that he had a lack of grip on track. The British driver claimed that it felt like something was broken in the car. Although, Hamilton highlighted that the balance of the W15 could’ve been the issue. Nevertheless, the seven-time world champion expressed his frustration to race engineer Bono.
The car’s just sliding around everywhere. It’s like something’s broken. It’s probably this balance. It’s really bad. Lewis Hamilton said on team radio
Certainly, Lewis Hamilton will be looking to move on from the Chinese GP. A change in the set-up had a massive impact on the Briton’s weekend. Despite claiming second place in the sprint, Hamilton will leave Shanghai disappointed as the 39-year-old missed out on a good result for Mercedes. It remains to be seen how things go for the Mercedes driver in the next race.
More must-reads: