SOMETHING’S NOT RIGHT, COMPLAINS LEWIS AS MAX
LEWIS HAMILTON sat with some of the finest engineering brains last night trying to work out what was wrong with his Mercedes. The world champion felt out of sorts in practice for the French Grand Prix at the Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France, and was only able to manage third quickest in the baking heat, more than two-tenths of a second behind Max Verstappen. ‘There’s something not right with the car, man,’ complained Hamilton over the radio. So when the day’s driving was over, the search for a quick remedy began ahead of qualifying today. On both previous occasions
Hamilton has competed here he took pole and won the race. But in those days he did not have Verstappen in a competitive Red Bull providing stiff opposition. Hamilton’s mood can hardly have been helped by the fact that his team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who has been short of form and confidence, was sandwiched between Verstappen and himself. However, recent experience provides encouragement to the Briton. For at the last race in Azerbaijan he was 11th on Friday only for a transformation to put him in contention for a podium finish. That did not materialise because he then made a mistake in hitting a button on his steering wheel that robbed his brakes of all usefulness. Now he lies four points behind Verstappen going into the seventh of the 23-race season, following after disappointing results in Monaco and Baku. Paul Ricard’s more flowing layout was meant to suit his car better than the tighter street circuits of recent weeks. But last night Hamilton said: ‘Even though I am in a higher position in practice than in Monaco and Baku, it is quite a struggle this weekend. ‘I am not sure if it is the track surface, or the temperature, or these inflated tyres. They have put the pressures up higher than ever before, so it is difficult to say. We are sliding around. ‘I am looking at every option. We have made lots of changes and we will do a lot of analysis tonight in the hope that it will be better tomorrow, but we will not know until then. ‘The times don’t look terrible, and we are close to the front, so we are in the battle. But Red Bull have been leading for a while now so you could have bet they would be quick.’ One possible fix to Hamilton’s predicament may be to change his chassis. The team have given him Bottas’s old one this weekend as part of their rotation system — an exchange that
may have played tricks in Hamilton’s head. Last night Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said: ‘We swap parts around all the time (to even up mileage) . But it is good to get feedback. And if it calms the driver’s mind, we have a spare brand new chassis that we could go with.’ Meanwhile, Silverstone bosses are still waiting to hear how many fans will be allowed at the British Grand Prix on July 18. They had asked for clarification from the Government by last night, but they had yet to receive it. TV: French GP LIVE on Sky Sports F1: qualifying 2pm today, race 2pm tomorrow.