Hamilton: Mercedes ‘on its toes’ - facing challenges in Qatar

Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes is facing a challenging weekend in Qatar due to the venue’s high-speed characteristics, but the team is “on its toes” and will handle whatever comes its way.

Mercedes heads into round 17 of the 2023 season following a difficult Japanese Grand Prix weekend, where pace was at a premium for the Brackley squad.

Hamilton and teammate George Russell crossed the checkered flag P4 and P6 respectively but behind McLaren’s duo of contenders and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, with race winner Max Verstappen well out of reach of everyone.

Although Qatar’s Lusail circuit will theoretically put Mercedes’ W14 at a disadvantage relative to its McLaren and Ferrari rivals, not to mention Red Bull, Hamilton remains optimistic on his chances of securing a good result.

“We come here optimistic, we always arrive optimistic,” he said on Thursday.

“And [then] you have to get in the car and often you’re obviously faced with all these different curveballs and stuff, but we’re on our toes, we’re ready to handle and deal with whatever we’re faced with.

• Read also: Hamilton and Leclerc 'excited' by Mercedes-Ferrari P2 showdown

“We know that coming here that this is a medium and high-speed circuit, this is not where our strengths are. And so it will be a challenge.

“We know that we’re realistic and who we can compete with. We generally won’t be able to compete with the Red Bull.

“But of course, we’re hopeful that we can fight with the Ferraris this weekend.

“And even though the Ferraris had an upgrade, and they were particularly quick over the last races, we still kept them on the toes in Singapore and obviously finished ahead of one of them in the last race, so [it] just shows [that] nothing is impossible.”

Ferrari’s uptick in form in the back half of the season has allowed it to close in on Mercedes in the Constructors’ standings. The Scuderia is now just 20 points behind its runner-up rival in the championship.

“We’re definitely not comfortably second,” commented Hamilton. “Ferrari are putting up a really strong fight. They’ve done an amazing job in the last couple of races, so it’s going to be a real good battle.

“I’m really excited about this last back half of the season to see if we can really squeeze more juice out of this car and try and finish ahead of them, but it’s going to take a real team effort.

“I’m really proud of where we are considering where we started at the beginning.”

In the Drivers’ championship, Hamilton is third, 16 points ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, but 33 points behind Sergio Perez. But the seven-time world champion played down the importance of overhauling the Mexican.

“I mean, it’s ultimately largely dependent on Checo’s performance moving forward, as he should easily have second, as you know, but I’m really proud of where we are, where I’ve managed to get to,” Hamilton explained.

“I think really proud of [the] race performances so far [this year], of course, want to try and do better and do more.

“And if we were able to get second, it would be amazing, but the main focus is really trying to get second for the team.”

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