Hamilton: Mercedes debut ‘way better than expected’
2013 Australian Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton said he was “really happy” with his first race for Mercedes.
“I think it’s way better than we probably ever expected for the first race of the season,” he said after finishing fifth in the Australian Grand Prix. “It’s a good place to start.”
“We’re going to have to go back and figure out why we were losing time to other people but I think the guys have done a fantastic job for us to have the pace that we did.
“The car was feeling really good so I don’t know how the other guys were pulling away so quickly. But we’ll keep pushing and hopefully we’ll get there.”
Hamilton added he was encouraged by how long he was able to run on the super-soft tyres at the start of the race: “I had a really good first stint, I went as long as anyone else, if not longer.”
“I just don’t know where we lost so much ground, I have to go back and review.”
2013 Australian Grand Prix
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Image © Daimler/Hoch Zwei
Andrew Miles said on 18th March 2013, 9:30
Reflecting on the pit stop times between the top six finishers highlighted there is room for improvement as these varied between sub 3′s to plus 4 seconds hence the 3 pit stops added 3 seconds to the race distance result, from the scheduled tyre changes with potential to be more !
Not where the team need to be losing time especially if this means finishing one place higher so it must be reduced so the target is 3 seconds or the team will pay the price with Red Bull & Ferrari
Interestingly to note the set up on the Lotus was obviously lower as the barge board was making more contact than any other car ! ie never saw this replicated with Grojean’s car at the same track position. The diference between the lotus’s suggests Kimi’s set up was better suited (unsure if the barge board wear was excessive !) take note in Malaysia
Have to say well satisfied with the first result so lets focus on polishing the finish touches to make the small difference that counts for remaining in contention for the title
nidzovski (@nidzovski) said on 18th March 2013, 10:46
Is it just me or Hamilton drove this race in a Schumacher way? He didn’t let no one pass him without a tough fight, even though there is no chance for him to maintain his position for no more than 2-3 laps. I mean I love his driving style, don’t get me wrong, but I think that this season, especially this race, could only be won with cool head and tactics. It’s such a shame but that’s a reality. This tires won’t allow aggresivnes. And it’s not about Hamilton only. Vettel, Massa and Alonso felt the same problem. I’ve never seen RBR with the tires that are so much worn.
CarlD (@carld) said on 18th March 2013, 16:19
I believe Mercedes’ problem lies in their choice of gearing which favors
a high top speed at the expense of acceleration.