Mercedes debuted their long-awaited upgrades at the Monaco GP, featuring new sidepods, floor, and front suspension. Lewis Hamilton felt the improvements during Friday practice but the W14 remained half a second off the leading times set by Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen. Hamilton is unsure if the Silver Arrows will be in the fight for pole on Saturday in Monaco’s crucial qualifying session. The team will analyze the lack of performance and try to figure out how to improve within what they have. The Monaco GP can be watched on Sky Sports F1 this weekend.
Mercedes debut long-awaited upgrades at Monaco GP; W14 has new sidepods, floor and front suspension; Lewis Hamilton third and sixth in Friday’s practice sessions but still half a second off leading times; watch the Monaco GP on Sky Sports F1 this weekend
19:01, UK, Friday 26 May 2023
Lewis Hamilton felt the improvements in Mercedes’ upgraded W14 during Friday practice at the Monaco GP but admits it was “a bit of a shame” not to be closer to the front. The reigning world champion was third fastest in the opening practice session before finishing sixth in Practice Two. However, the W14 remained half a second off the leading times set by Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen respectively in each session.
Mercedes debuted their long-awaited updates in Monte Carlo, featuring new sidepods, floor, and front suspension. While Hamilton felt there were positive signs, he is unsure if the Silver Arrows will be in the fight for pole on Saturday in Monaco’s crucial qualifying session.
“I’ve generally had an amazing day. I really enjoyed driving today. It’s not the place to ultimately test an upgrade but the car was generally feeling good,” Hamilton said. “A bit of a shame we weren’t as close as I’d have hoped at the end of the session but definitely felt the improvements and we’ve just got to keep chipping away at it and see if we can squeeze any more juice out of the car.
“There is [one area where seeing most improvement] and it’s very clear where the lack of performance is for me and so we’ll talk about that in the debrief, put our heads together and try and figure out how we can do that within what we have and hopefully this gives us a platform to build on moving forwards. In P1, I thought maybe we were looking pretty good, but we’re always looking pretty good in P1 for some reason. In [the second session], we were close to half a second off, and maybe that could have been three tenths, but I don’t think we have half a second in the bag. We’ll see, we’ll work on it and see if…
Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz explains how Mercedes have adapted their car and the potential impact of their upgrades at this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.
If you want to watch the Monaco GP, you can catch it on Sky Sports F1 this weekend.
