Lewis Hamilton experienced a complicated weekend at the British Grand Prix, where the adjustments made before the race affected his performance, particularly during the early moments of competition.
Although difficulties were initially anticipated for his team, Mercedes, which had already estimated a six-tenth deficit compared to Ferrari on the straights, the situation unexpectedly changed with Hamilton’s pole in the sprint race on Friday. However, he finished second in the sprint and third in the Sunday race, behind his teammate, Charles Leclerc, who achieved victory.
Leclerc started the race strongly, overtaking poleman Kimi Antonelli on the first lap, while Hamilton was caught out by his pre-race adjustment. ‘Charles did a great job today and all the magic I had on Friday disappeared over the weekend,’ commented the seven-time world champion.
The Brit noted that while Leclerc had increased the load at the front of his car, he himself trimmed the load of the wing to try to improve rear stability, which, paradoxically, hindered his performance at the start. ‘I had significant understeer,’ he added.
Hamilton’s struggle became evident during the first part of the race, where he had difficulty turning the car, especially in the slow sections of the track, as well as in the fast points. The consequences of the understeer were apparent, and the driver felt that the tires were starting to wear out more than advisable.
According to Dario Maraffuschi, head of motorsport at Pirelli, understeer generates excessive stress on the front tire, which can lead to premature tire wear. Therefore, it was essential for Hamilton to make adjustments with the team during the race, attempting to adapt his driving with the controls available on the steering wheel.
After some modifications, Hamilton managed to improve his lap times, reducing the gap to Leclerc. ‘I couldn’t turn the car until halfway through the race when I managed to make some changes with the differential,’ he reported. However, it was already too late to recover the lost time.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
