Reason behind Lewis Hamilton's 'really difficult position' message revealed by Mercedes

Mercedes trackside engineer Andrew Shovlin explained that Lewis Hamilton’s radio message during the Australian GP was related to his engine overheating while being stuck behind George Russell during the race. The Briton found it difficult to follow the car with his engine temperatures rising every time he got closer.

Explaining the radio message sent by Lewis Hamilton during the Australian GP, Shovlin said:

“I couldn’t fight for third because the engine was overheating. So I had to back off, just had to sit behind. That was all about engine cooling and keeping the PU cool during the course of the race.. During the course of the race, when you are following a car it meant Lewis had to compromise what he was doing."

"He had to move out of the dirty air of the car in front of him and make sure he got cool, clean air through the radiators to drop the PU temperatures down. But doing that makes racing the car in front incredibly difficult and that’s why his message came out.”

Lewis Hamilton ranted on the radio as he got stuck behind Russell, saying he was being put in a difficult situation. Shovlin explained that the message was related to his power unit temperature increasing as he followed Russell throughout the race. The team had also added sensors to the Briton's W13 during the race to understand the performance of the car.

Explaining the situation between Lewis Hamilton and his engine during the race, Shovlin said:

“We push everything to the limit, as you would imagine, and one of those is engine cooling, and you do that by closing up the bodywork or changing the louvre design at the back of the car."

"That decision is made on Saturday but obviously we were racing on Sunday, 24 hours later, and in this particular circumstance the ambient was one, maybe two degrees warmer than we had expected.”

The reason for Lewis Hamilton’s engine heating up was the ambient temperatures being slightly warmer than expected. So following Russell without compromising his performance was difficult for the British champion, according to Shovlin.

Describing how the engine temperatures affected them, Shovlin said:

“As a result of that, ourselves, and not just ourselves, you would have heard it from teams up and down the grid, were right on the limit of what the engine and the PU can take in terms of cooling requirements.”

---

Mercedes revealed nothing they tried worked on Lewis Hamilton's car in Australia

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff revealed nothing worked on their car in Australia, and therefore it did not make sense to bring upgrades. The Austrian revealed there haven’t been able to find a solution to reduce the bouncing on their car.

Speaking to the Motorsport Network, Wolff said:

“Nothing we did this weekend [in Australia] has unlocked the aerodynamic potential or has reduced the bouncing. We’re still at the same place. And that’s why it doesn’t make any sense to bring updates, because you’re confusing yourself even more."

"Maybe it’s the fact the more downforce you bring, the worse the bouncing gets. So we are still learning.”

The Austrian suggested they won’t be bringing any upgrades to Imola either, until the bouncing is under control. Although Lewis Hamilton is rallying the troops in his team to try and improvise their performance, their issues are expected to take more than a few races to resolve.