Mercedes endured a tough Belgian Grand Prix last weekend as Hamilton finished more than a second behind Max Verstappen’s pole in qualifying on Saturday. He then retired from the race after a first lap clash with Fernando Alonso.
But Mercedes bounced back at Zandvoort as Hamilton qualified fourth despite being forced off on his final lap in Q3 which he says cost him an eventual front row grid spot.
It marked the latest turn in Mercedes’ form in a season that has seen it struggle to fully understand the car and its weaknesses after being hit hard by the porpoising problem.
Asked by Autosport if the response at Zandvoort offered hope that things would not go as badly as at Spa, Hamilton replied: “There is hope that the potential is there.
“But I don’t know if the car will be good or bad in the next races. You just have to see when you come.
“It’s like a mood swing. It’s like the characteristics of a human being. You don’t know which side of the bed he’s going to get out of.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Hamilton said Mercedes engineers now had a “much better understanding” of why the Mercedes W13 didn’t perform well at Spa, and that there were “things we could have done differently”.
“We’re just looking at the things that we can make sure we’re better prepared from race to race,” Hamilton said.
“But in general this kind of track, just put the car on it, it works a lot better with ride height and all kinds.”
Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff revealed after qualifying that team data showed Hamilton was a tenth of a second ahead of Verstappen’s pole time before giving up his lap due to flags yellows displayed for Sergio Perez’s rotation in the last sector.
It was a big turnaround from qualifying at Spa, which Wolff called “unacceptable” and the worst he had faced with the team in 10 years.
Wolff explained that Spa offered “the biggest clues” after Mercedes was “beaten enough on Saturday” before “seeing some light at the end of the tunnel on race day”.
“We understand better, and we predicted it would be a much better race for us based on learning from Spa, and here we go,” Wolff said.
“We are right there. I think we had a competitive qualifying car. And as it seems [practice]a fast car in racing too, so the predictions were right.
“We just have to get things done. As we speak, it is being examined from a scientific perspective. What is the right way forward for us? What does this mean for the current concept?
“I’d rather be confusing and fast than slow and clear.”
