Mercedes drivers face tough test after ‘worst’ sprint race at Interlagos

Lewis Hamilton described the Sao Paulo sprint race as “one of the worst races” due to the serious lack of performance and traction of his Mercedes W15 F1 car. The seven-time world champion qualified 11th for the sprint and eventually finished in the same position, with teammate George Russell finishing sixth. Russell admitted that this result was expected, noting that the team will have to “accept” the current situation.

Hamilton’s desire to finish the final races of the season strongly before joining Ferrari next year appears increasingly difficult given the ongoing problems with the W15 that the team has been struggling to resolve so far. It’s unlikely that Mercedes will release further updates to the W15 as the team is currently focused on the 2025 car. At the United States Grand Prix, Hamilton spun out onto the gravel with a balance problem, and in the next race in Mexico he finished fourth with Russell fifth.

However, the sprint race in Brazil once again emphasized the unpredictability of the car. After the start, the 39-year-old lost three places to other cars throughout the 24-lap race before hitting a DRS circuit that made him harder to pass. However, he eventually managed to finish without scoring points. Speaking to the media about how the car felt after the sprint race, Hamilton said:

“Terrible! To be honest, I felt terrible today, even worse than in qualifying.

“It was definitely a very difficult race, it was one of the worst races. I felt like the car was just sliding and there was no grip even behind the Williams.

“For a while I could barely keep up with them. There is a lot of work to do to try and change the car, to turn it on its head for qualifying.”

Russell, on the other hand, five seconds behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, admitted he was expected to finish between the top five and the “midfield teams”, suggesting further work on the car would take place ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix. but the changes won’t be significant enough to help it compete with the cars in the front row. He added:

“I think we finished exactly where we expected in advance, exactly halfway between the top five and midfield.

“We’re going to try to make some improvements this afternoon and tomorrow, but we can’t suddenly make a race-winning car overnight. We just need to recognize that this is where we are now.”