Lewis Hamilton drives around the Miami circuit in the Mercedes W15.
Questioned on whether a “lock-up” had cost Lewis Hamilton the chance to pass Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in Miami, Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin argues the pace was just not there.
Hamilton typically doesn’t find much happiness in a P6 finish, but the situation was different in Miami. He was able to challenge Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Perez instead of watching them quickly pull away.
Mercedes lacked the pace for Lewis Hamilton overtake
Despite being unable to pass Perez, who ultimately finished two seconds ahead in fourth place, Hamilton managed to maintain the pressure on the Red Bull driver. This was possible after Hamilton changed his hard tires to mediums, matching Perez who was also using the medium compound.
Our data analysis from the Miami Grand Prix revealed that Hamilton’s mean lap time on the medium was 1:31.7 over the 25-lap stint. Perez, who swapped his hards for mediums under the Safety Car having stopped eight laps previously, also ran that compound to the end for a 25-lap stint and his mean time was also 1:31.7.
However, the issue arises from the fact that Hamilton was unable to overtake Perez due to a lack of tire durability and speed advantage. Shovlin defended their seven-time World Champion when questioned during Mercedes’ post-Miami GP debrief about whether Hamilton could have overtaken Perez “if he had not locked up.”
Shovlin responded by stating, “In that final stint, it appeared that we had a slight edge in terms of speed compared to Sergio. We were able to keep up with him.”
Lewis had to exert a lot of effort to keep up with the tires, while Red Bull had a smaller rear wing which allowed them to maintain a good speed in the corners. As a result, it was extremely challenging to make any progress on the straight sections and overtake them.
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We found it motivating to apply pressure and compete with him, but unfortunately, we lack the necessary speed to surpass him when both using the same type of tire and being at the same stage of wear. We simply do not have the pace to accomplish that.
Following the initial upgrades in Miami, which included a modified floor on the W15, Mercedes intends to bring more updates at Imola in their ongoing pursuit of achieving their first podium in the F1 2024 season.
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