Otmar Szafnauer believes Lewis Hamilton was ‘right’ with the seven-time Formula 1 champion’s bleak verdict about Mercedes during the 2024 Chinese GP last time out.
The pinnacle of motorsport finally returned to Shanghai for its first visit since 2019 in round five of the season. But Hamilton was miles away from repeating his win from five years ago at the 2024 Chinese GP. The 39-year-old had to settle for ninth place after qualifying in P18.
Hamilton also fell back to P19 at the start of the race, despite Mercedes putting soft tyres on his car. His W15 did not take to Pirelli’s C4 tyres and Hamilton only made tepid progress until the first safety car. The Briton ran in 14th place when Valtteri Bottas’ engine failed on Lap 24.
Otmar Szafnauer feels Lewis Hamilton was ‘right’ with his complaints in the Chinese GP
It even took Hamilton until L4 to re-pass home hero Zhou Guanyu for P18 in the Chinese GP. The Mercedes ace’s progress also continued to be slow as he bemoaned the handling of the W15. Hamilton especially grew frustrated whilst stuck behind one of the Alpine drivers, too.
Hamilton vented over Mercedes’ radio during the Chinese GP, ‘I can’t even catch him, mate, the car is so slow’. He also continued to vent about his W15’s handling as his car was ‘sliding around everywhere’. The Briton even said it was so bad that it felt ‘like something is broken’.
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Mercedes fitting hard tyres to Hamilton’s car during his second pit stop on L21 let the Briton make progress following the safety car periods. But after qualifying in P18 after locking up at Turn 14, he still ended the Chinese GP 57.986 seconds behind race-winner Max Verstappen.
Otmar Szafnauer praises Lewis Hamilton for getting the most out of his Mercedes
Szafnauer has now praised Hamilton for hauling his Mercedes into the points in the Chinese GP, nonetheless. The former Alpine team principal respects Hamilton’s ability to get a result in tough situations and believes the Stevenage-born star’s issues with the W15 were correct.
Szafnauer told RacingNews365: “The thing I respect about Lewis is that he works super hard and he is a great racer. It doesn’t matter where he qualifies. I watched the last race and he was behind one of the Alpines saying, ‘I can’t catch him’.
“I am looking at the lap times and he was right, the lap times were very similar. But where did he finish? In the points. He somehow managed to do it. He is a great racer, he doesn’t give up. And the other thing I like about him, he is very respectful on the race track.”
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