Lewis Hamilton and George Russell still seem to be searching and are not too optimistic about the continuation of the weekend in Saudi Arabia. The seven-time world champion did not get further than the eleventh fastest time during the evening session. His Mercedes teammate Russell fared slightly better with P5, but both drivers say that a fight for victory is anything but realistic.
Hamilton did not have a very pleasant Friday in Jeddah. The 38-year-old Briton, who announced earlier in the day that he would say goodbye to his support Angela Cullen after seven years, had a hard time with the W14 at the Jeddah Street Circuit. “I had problems during both sessions,” he tells Motorsport-Total.com. “Now it’s about improving the balance to make the car more steerable. The car is simply too difficult to drive.’
Hamilton knows it will take time to solve the problems, but he is convinced that his team is doing everything it can to get back to competitiveness. “It’s a matter of time, but we have to be patient,” the seven-time world champion sounds combative. “Even though the W14 is not much better than the W13 at the moment,” the Mercedes driver adds.
Russell rules out a chance of winning in Saudi Arabia
There is also little optimism at Russell. The 25-year-old Brit sees another strong Red Bull and, according to him, victory is not an option. “Red Bull certainly stands out again,” he concludes. “We’re really not going to find a second tonight. We have to get the most out of our package and the set-up.’
Mercedes did have some new parts on the W14 during the evening session, but according to Russell not too much can be expected from it. “We tested a few parts in VT2, but only minor improvements.” In his opinion, the team needs more time for major improvements.
