Hamilton eagerly anticipates the Mercedes F1 launch while enduring “painful” races

Mercedes faced another challenging weekend at Monza, where Ferrari clearly outperformed them, and their W14 car ranked as the third-fastest on the grid.

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton ultimately secured fifth and sixth places, showcasing an evident disadvantage in top speed, while Max Verstappen set a new Formula 1 record at the Italian Grand Prix

Hamilton has encountered difficulties in recent qualifying sessions, starting 13th at Zandvoort and eighth at Monza, despite making progress during the races and accumulating valuable points. Nevertheless, Mercedes has struggled to catch up with the front-running Red Bull team.

“Races are pretty straightforward for me,” Hamilton said. “I’ve just got to do better in qualifying, so it’s not such a difficult day.”

Hamilton: “Counting down the days until February”

The seven-time Formula One world champion continued that his team is “just living with the car that we have at the moment. Today is the third fastest car, and it’s obviously painful for all of us. We wish we were quicker. But we’re just counting down the days until February.”

In Monza, Hamilton once again opted for an alternative tire strategy, one of only three drivers to choose hard tires. He expressed surprise over an early pit stop for mediums on lap 27, as he had expected to continue for another eight laps. He voiced doubts about the durability of the medium tires, stating, “Now we’re screwed, I don’t know how these tyres are going to last.”

Related: Another Hamilton response to Max Verstappen’s record

Despite the uncertainty, Hamilton skillfully managed his tire wear and successfully overtook Fernando Alonso, Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, and Alex Albon on his way to securing a top-six finish.

“I definitely wasn’t upset,” he said when asked about the radio messages. “I was just supposed to go to lap 35, and the pace didn’t feel that great at that point. But they stopped me.”

Hamilton clarified that his radio messages did not reflect frustration but rather his confusion over the sudden pit stop. He noted that he was initially supposed to target lap 35, but the team decided to pit earlier. Nevertheless, he adapted his strategy, closed the gap to his competitors, and engaged in an exciting battle on track.

“The lap I pitted they said that I was going to target, and then all of a sudden they boxed me. So I was a little bit confused with that, that’s all. And then I was definitely concerned that I might not make it to the end.”