Lewis Hamilton is excited to put the latest Mercedes improvements to the test in the tough Miami Grand Prix conditions.
Mercedes has made a notable, yet slight, improvement to the W15 F1 car for the forthcoming Miami Grand Prix after the Chinese Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton expressed his delight for both the improvements and the difficulties of race weekend in remarks made prior to the event.
Mercedes has been struggling to find the performance needed in the current ground-effect era with its last race victory at the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix when George Russell took the top spot on the podium. As the Brackley-based squad attempts to turn things around with the upgrades, they are faced with the difficulty that the Miami Grand Prix is hosting the second sprint race of the season, meaning there is only one Free Practice session. This, coupled with the high temperatures and tyre degradation, gives the team a bit of a challenge.
Ahead of the Miami Grand Prix weekend, the seven-time Formula One champion made the following remarks at the Drivers’ Press Conference:
“The crew has put in a lot of effort.
This weekend, we’re planning a minor renovation here. I’m really happy to see progress being made.”
Mercedes has come under fire for their less impressive performances in recent seasons, and each improvement is a step in the right direction towards getting back to their best. He went on:
“And hopefully within a slightly better working window, we’ll have a car.” Thus, it will undoubtedly remain difficult.
But I’m incredibly happy to be in the United States. The weather is amazing. It will be difficult with the temperatures, tire deg, and other factors. However, we do appreciate it.”
Mercedes’ upgrades include changes to the floor body, cooling louvres, front wing, and front suspension. However, McLaren are bringing the most amount of upgrades to the race weekend with ten in total, 9 performance and 1 track specific. The Woking-based squad’s upgrades include changes to the front wing, front suspension, front corner, floor body, sidepod inlet, engine cover, cooling louvres, rear suspension, rear corner, and beam wing.
