Lewis Hamilton has made a staggering admission about his chances at the Australian Grand Prix after exposing the grim reality of Mercedes’ struggles in 2022.
The seven-time world champion was fortunate to edge onto the podium in Bahrain’s season opening race, with Mercedes’ problems with their new W13 design well-documented.
More problems followed for the 37-year-old and his team in Saudi Arabia, where Hamilton fell to his first performance-related Q1 elimination since 2009 and Mercedes failed to make the top five on the grid for the first time since the 2013 Italian Grand Prix.
Those early season woes showed no signs of being rectified during Friday’s practice at Melbourne’s Albert Park, where Ferrari again dominated in the lead-up to Sunday’s Australian GP.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff warned not to expect any “magic fix” for their new W13 car ‘porpoising’ – bouncing at high speed – and not racing at the optimum height.
