Following an interesting Japanese Grand Prix weekend, in which he qualified seventh, 1.031 seconds behind pole sitter Max Verstappen, which he called “crazy” and “worrying,” and ultimately finished fifth in the race on Sunday, Hamilton had much to say.
As Charles Leclerc led the pack in fourth place, Lewis Hamilton had to fight off the other Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz, all the way to the finish line. Hamilton crossed the line in fifth place, 49.376 seconds behind race winner Max Verstappen,
Hamilton during the interview said how he felt: “I mean I’m exhausted for one, fighting the car, fighting with absolutely everything I have to get as high up as possible and get ahead of Ferrari, which had an upgrade this week, so they were particularly quick.
“They have been quicker the last three races, it was a hell of a fight. I’m really trying to hold on to the constructors’ title… I know how important it is for everyone in the background, back at the factory, so giving it everything.
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“But it’s tough on weekends like this when the car is such a handful. Basically, the exact same as last year. Feeling wise the car felt just the same as last year, bouncing and sliding.
“That’s tough given how much work we’ve done to progress, and we are not any closer to the front, at least here. But we did get ahead of one of the Ferraris, which is great teamwork, and great work from the guys in the pit stop and with strategy. Long way to go.”
When asked about the amount of influence he has on the 2024 vehicle, Hamilton responded as follows: “There are things that I’ve asked for that we’ve gone in a direction, part of the direction for next year. I think all the points that George and I give have been fully listened to.
“I have no idea where the car is going to be next year. But we are a long, long way away. We’ve got to hope the next sixth months has to be the greatest six months of development that we’ve ever had just to close that gap, to be really banging on the door.
“But the evidence is there with the McLarens, and we can’t turn a blind eye to that, we’ve got to look at what they’ve done and go in that direction, that is the direction. But I truly believe my team can do it.
“We’ve always been great at putting downforce on the car. It’s just that, with the way our car currently works, adding downforce doesn’t work – it just makes it bounce more. Hopefully with the change in philosophy we will be back to where the team deserve.
“This is a world championship team; we still are an amazing team. I have absolute faith in everyone but decisions that are made in this period of time are critical to our trajectory.”