The difficult start to the 2022 Formula 1 season could have spelled the beginning of the end of Mercedes’ dominance, but although the Silver Arrows have suffered, they have seen this fall as a new reason to motivate themselves and regain the lead.
In practice for the Miami Grand Prix they already showed some signs of improvement, but that did not materialize in the race, where they finished far behind Red Bull and Ferrari, the clear candidates for the title this season. After two weeks of factory work to optimize the W13, they traveled to Barcelona in the hope that their radical single-seater without sidepods would begin to bear fruit.
Its star driver and seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton, was once again able to savor the top positions in the standings in the first free practice in Barcelona, with a third position on Friday afternoon. The British, getting out of the car, was satisfied, making it clear that the updates have worked.
“Super happy with the progress, so many, many, many thanks to everyone at the factory for not giving up and for continuing to push,” he said. “We’re not the fastest yet, but I think we’re on our way.”
“It’s the first time we’ve driven the track without porpoising , although we still have some rebounds, but it’s much better. And so, yes, you have to take advantage of the potential of the car a little bit,” acknowledged Hamilton.
The seven-time champion affirms that the Mercedes W13 has made progress compared to what we saw in the Bahrain tests, but continues to struggle: “It is still difficult with the car, but it has been much better than before”.
“I’m grateful for those improvements, now we just have to try and fine-tune them in the next session,” he continued. “So overnight, there’s a lot of data to go through and try to fine-tune the car, I think we can put it in an even better place for tomorrow and hopefully we can catch up on the heels of the guys in front.”
When asked about the possible change in the direction of his team’s development, Hamilton did not want to give hints, since it has been said that they could return to the W13 concept with pontoons. The Englishman, if he knew about this modification, evaded the subject well: “I don’t know that, we still have to decide.”
“I think it’s interesting to see some of the others who have taken a different path. It would be interesting to see if they improve because of it or not, but we still have to raise the level, and there is the question, if we go that route at some point, but at the moment we only focus on this,” he said.
