Seven-time champion and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton believes his team is in something of a pattern as it waits for new upgrades to push forward.
The last big package the Silver Arrows brought was at the Belgian Grand Prix, but they decided to remove the new floor and the good progress shown by the W15 car was later halted.
In the four race weekends before the summer break, Mercedes ’emerged as the team to beat. The drivers of the Silver Arrows recorded three victories in that period, of which Lewis Hamilton won two.
After returning from the summer break, Mervedes fell again in the performance, becoming the fourth fastest team. His best position was a third-place finish over George Russell in Azerbaijan, although that can be attributed to a collision between Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz on the penultimate lap, as he was fifth before that.
Ferrari raised its performance again after the start of the second part, pushing Mercedes behind it, and McLaren and Red Bull [in addition to problems] manage to be ahead of the German team.
The seven-time champion believes that nothing has changed on their car since they returned from the summer break. He is of the opinion that other teams have used their upgrades and gone forward, while they are waiting for theirs in the back.
“It hasn’t changed,” Hamilton answered when asked by Dutch RN365 how the car had changed since the summer break. “Others got it, we brought the Spa upgrade, but then we didn’t end up using it.”
“The others did, and they brought upgrades from Zandvoort and Monza, especially Ferrari and McLaren. We are waiting for ours in a few races,” said the Briton.
“But McLaren seem to be the ones on the rise and they’ve progressed the fastest if you look at their impressive wing. We just have to wait and see and do the best we can with what we have.”
