Hamilton cautious on US GP prospects amid out-of-sync upgrade

Lewis Hamilton has expressed cautious optimism about Mercedes' prospects for this weekend's US Grand Prix, highlighting how the team’s strategic approach to development has been a factor behind its recent performance issues.

Unlike their rivals, who have introduced new parts at various points throughout the season, Mercedes has opted for a more concentrated upgrade schedule.

This has meant that they have been running older specifications at certain races, potentially hindering their competitiveness.

However, Hamilton is confident that the more substantial upgrade package introduced in Austin, the team's final update of the 2024 season, will provide a performance boost to the Brackley’s squad’s W15 silver arrow.

“Normally they’re on the move all the time, so they’ve definitely had time to analyse where we’ve gone wrong,” Hamilton explained, referring to the development work undertaken by Mercedes’ engineers during F1's three-week break.

“But also we’ve been a bit out of sequence [compared] to the others. The others have all upgraded at times we haven’t, so we’re bringing an upgrade here for example.

“Some people probably will bring small pieces here, but maybe not everyone will have the same upgrade we have here. Others brought it to Zandvoort and to Monza I think it was for Ferrari.”

• Read also: Mercedes gearing up for final upgrade of 2024 at US GP

Hamilton reckons the delay in implementing upgrades, coupled with ongoing set-up difficulties, has impacted his team’s ability to maximize performance.

“We ultimately lost our way a little bit with set-up, trying to get as much from this car that’s slowly deteriorating, on the floor for example,” he added.

“So I think we understand where we’ve gone wrong, I think not necessarily wrong, but where we’ve veered off and I’m hoping this weekend we can start back on a better balance.”

Mercedes’ situation is further complicated by the return of in Austin of F1’s Sprint format, leaving teams with only have a single hour of practice on Friday before the competitive sessions begin, limiting the amount of data that can be gathered from the new upgrades.

“It’s pretty impossible unless you’re just lucky and it [the upgrade] works from the get-go,” Hamilton remarked.

“Last year we came here and I didn’t have to change much and the balance was sweet from the get-go. Nine and a half times out of 10 that’s not the case.

George Russell also acknowledged the challenges of this weekend’s compressed schedule while noting how the limited practice window places additional emphasis on the accuracy of pre-race simulations.

However, the latter have not been up to par for Mercedes in recent times.

“It’s difficult but everyone’s in the same boat,” commented the Briton, alluding to this weekend’s limited practice mileage. “That puts a lot of pressure and a lot of focus on simulation.

“Simulations haven’t been ideal in the past year or so but we are constantly working on them. Some others put their car on the track and it just works straight away.

“We’re hoping that we’ve definitely made more than enough mistakes and hopefully we’ll be able to start on a better platform.”

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