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Lewis Hamilton seemed unsure of whether the upgrades on his Mercedes worked during the 2022 F1 US Grand Prix weekend. The British champion felt it was difficult to determine if they had made any progress with their car at the Circuit of The Americas track.
Asked at the post-race press conference about the upgrades they brought to Austin, the Mercedes driver replied:
"Honestly, it's really difficult to say whether or not… I'm sure the team will know whether we've taken a step forward compared to others. It's difficult to say whether it's compared to these guys, but I'm sure it helped. Just because you go to different races, sometimes, you know, from the last race of this race it’s difficult to really feel exactly. But I do think we've taken a step in the right direction. They've been so fast on the straight, I think, under DRS they're like 35 kmph faster than us. If we're behind them, we're like, 22 kmph faster, I think it is, with DRS on the back straight. So he came from a long, long way back. But even without the DRS, I think they're still something like 8 kmph up on us, so we've got a lot of time being lost on the straight, probably four-tenths at least a lap. And so we've got some improvements to make for next year's car."
Despite his competitive pace in the race and a second-place finish, the Mercedes driver was unable to determine if the upgrades brought to the Austin circuit had worked efficiently. Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes have taken a step in the right direction but lacked pace. The Briton, however, claims they have significant understanding of their car performance to make improvements on the 2023 car.
Lewis Hamilton reveals Mercedes have struggled with their brakes in 2022
Lewis Hamilton revealed that Mercedes have struggled with brake issues throughout the 2022 F1 season. The Briton explained that his brakes needed to be changed during the US GP last weekend due to inconsistent temperatures, which is a problem they have been trying to fix in their current car.
Speaking about the brake issues during the US GP, the Briton said:
"Yeah, well, we've had problems with our brakes all year. Just with separation, basically. When you hit the brake, instead of both fronts doing the same amount of work. Either the left one does more, or the right one does more, because one gains more temperature. And so we had a huge temperature split, which was basically, the left one wasn't really working. So they had to change the brakes. And it's something we've seen a lot through the year with these new bigger drums. And so something we're working on fixing that."
Mercedes have had issues with the complicated concept of their car throughout the 2022 season, but they seem to have made gradual progress in ironing out their issues. Although Lewis Hamilton is still in the hunt for a win in 2022, it is the first season since 2013 that the team has not won a single race.
