Angry Hamilton: You didn’t listen to me and now we are where we are! The seven-time champion complains about the state of his car

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team did not start the new season well at all. Its drivers finished the Bahrain Grand Prix in fifth and seventh place respectively, and with a huge loss. Team leader Lewis Hamilton criticized the work on the new car, saying that nobody listened to him during the development.

Sixth and seventh in Saturday’s qualifying, fifth and seventh in Sunday’s race. Mercedes has had a less than ideal race weekend, with fifth-placed Lewis Hamilton losing less than 51 seconds to Bahrain Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen.

Seventh-placed George Russell lost 55 seconds, which is a really big problem for Mercedes. As Hamilton said in his post-race interview, the German team’s monoblocs were only fourth fastest at the Sakhir circuit.

Almost throughout the race, it was true that Aston Martin in particular was much better in terms of performance, not to mention Red Bull.

In the final laps, fifth-placed Hamilton was still holding off the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. It should be noted, the Spanish driver was also struggling in his car with too much tyre degradation, but even so Hamilton was unable to attack Sainz.

“We were miles away, the podium was in sight. Overall, I had the same feeling as last year. We know we’re not where we should be and we know it’s not the right car. It’s tough. But I just have to try to stay positive, keep my head up and push the guys (mechanics),” he commented on the current situation at the press conference.

We didn’t listen, we’re not where we could be

Hamilton thus ended the opening race of the season in fifth place, with Russell in seventh. And that’s thanks to Charles Leclerc dropping out. The Bahrain Grand Prix was clearly dominated by the Red Bull cars, specifically Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez. Third place went to Fernando Alonso in an Aston Martin.

The seven-time world champion admitted in a recent interview with BBC Sport that the team did not listen to his comments when designing the W14 car. And that’s why he says Mercedes will not be challenging for the win this season.

“I told them last year about the problems the car has. I’ve driven so many cars in my life, so I know what the car needs and I know what the car doesn’t need,” Hamilton said in that interview.

“And I think it’s really about responsibility. It’s about owning up and saying, yes, we didn’t listen to you, we’re not where we need to be and we need to work on it. We have to look at all the weak points and come together as a team,” the seven-time world champion added.

Sources