Why Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton currently sees Ferrari as favourites and where Mercedes stand ahead of the final day of 2022 Formula One winter testing
If Formula One kicked off today, how do you think this race would turn out? “I really don’t know,” says Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton ahead of the final day of winter testing, but then adds, “From what I can see. Ferrari would probably do a one-two today, or maybe Red Bull. “
Is this the kind of low-pitching that Carlos Sainz, for example, attests to the Mercedes representatives in Formula 1? Hamilton, at any rate, wants nothing to do with Mercedes being the favourites. His team would be “in a really, really, really good position” if it were capable of simulating a poor performance in testing. “And that’s not the case,” Hamilton says.
So where does Mercedes stand in the second week of testing? Hamilton: “We really have a few issues to deal with. Others are struggling less, but who knows? Maybe by next week we’ll have a better understanding. “
Mercedes update in second week of testing
Because Mercedes has only completed two days of testing in the current configuration of the W13 so far. In the first week of testing, the team had tested its car with a completely different side box version. Basically, however, they were dealing with a “very, very similar” car in the second week, explained Hamilton.
And he stresses again: Mercedes is not in perfect shape. “We are facing the wind and the bounce this week. We’re working through a lot of different scenarios, trying to figure out how to get the downforce without the car bouncing as much as it did in the last test.”
The so-called porpoising has not yet been conclusively solved at Mercedes, he said. “You can see it in the onboard footage. The car bounces and sets up,” Hamilton says, and then gives his car a feminine character when he says: “It’s not quite happy at the moment, but we’re trying to tame it. “
That is not easy for Mercedes at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sachir. It is “difficult”, says Hamilton. “Because the track is bumpy, it’s slippery, it’s way too hot in the morning. And in the afternoon it’s just dusty. “
Bottom line, however, is that all teams are “in the same boat” in terms of bouncing the cars and finding appropriate countermeasures. But Hamilton admits, “Some are coping better [than Mercedes]. “
Why Hamilton is still confident
He is, however, “confident” going into the final test session, although the car is “definitely different” to the Barcelona test. “But that’s more down to the way the tyres work in these temperatures,” Hamilton said. “That’s why we’re dealing with a different machine this week. It’s not because of the changes we’ve made.”
And “a lot of work” has gone into the upgrade on the W13 with the much more compact sidepods, Hamilton says. Now, for him and the Silver Arrows, it’s a matter of finding further solutions to the persistent (porpoising) problems. Or, as Hamilton puts it: “We’re taking the hurdles that everyone has to take in 2022 with a new car. We’ll get it done, but it won’t be a walk in the park. “
