The German producer has revamped its automotive for this yr in a bid to dial out the plain weak spot that plagued Hamilton and team-mate George Russell all through 2023.
Though early operating of the W15 seems to point that the Mercedes 2024 challenger has dialled out a lot of its vices – together with the ‘spiteful’ rear finish – Hamilton has advised that pace-wise it has not but hit its goal.
“We all know we’ve acquired work to do and we’re not but the place we wish to be,” mentioned Hamilton. “We knew that may be the case coming into the take a look at although.
“We’ve acquired an incredible platform to construct on. We’ll go away and work laborious over the following couple of days to undergo all the info from the take a look at. I’m actually excited for the beginning of the season subsequent week and we’ll be heading into it in fine condition.”
Russell mentioned Mercedes was in little doubt that world champion Purple Bull remained out in entrance primarily based on the spectacular tempo of the RB20, however felt his personal outfit was in a significantly better place than it was 12 months in the past.
“The automotive has been dealing with properly and correlates to the sensation we had on the simulator forward of coming right here,” he mentioned. “We’ve acquired an excellent base to construct from.
George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15
Photograph by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Photographs
“We’re conscious that there’s much more lap time to seek out. We knew that may be the case forward of the take a look at, and Purple Bull are trying very sturdy as soon as once more.
“Nonetheless, I’m assured that we’re in a significantly better place than we had been 12 months in the past. The workforce at Brackley and Brixworth have carried out an incredible job to get us into this place and with a automotive that may be a step in the appropriate route.
“We now have to concentrate on firstly getting probably the most out of the bundle we now have, and secondly including extra downforce and attempting to shut that hole.”
Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin mentioned the early indications from the take a look at pointed to the W15 being a lot improved in the important thing areas the workforce had hoped to type.
“The workforce has labored laborious to iron out the dealing with flaws that had been integral to the W14, and it is nice that we appear to have put plenty of these issues behind us,” he mentioned.
“Over the course of the take a look at we have made good steps on our understanding of the automotive. The duty of the following few days is to select by means of the outcomes and put collectively one of the best bundle to take into the race weekend.
“It is by no means simple to make predictions on tempo from testing, as all groups are fairly efficient at hiding their tempo after they wish to. It is clear that we’re in a significantly better place than 12 months in the past although.”
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