Lewis Hamilton expects Mercedes will be more competitive in this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix following Ferrari’s dominant performance at Spa.
The team believes a combination of Ferrari’s superior engine performance and its weakness in slow-speed corners compromised its race weekend in Belgium. Hamilton said this suggests Monza won’t be as tough for them.
“Luckily there, apart from turn one, it’s not that slow the chicanes. I’m hoping the traction loss we were having in the super-slow corners [at Spa], hopefully it won’t be as bad there.”Mercedes’ poor traction in the slower corners at Spa was their biggest weakness, said Hamilton.
“The last two corners and turn one are where we lose a lot of time, and I think most of our time to be honest. But also today [Sebastian Vettel] didn’t have to do any management. He was just flat-chat, no problem with the tyres. Hopefully that element’s not a problem in the next race.”
Team principal Toto Wolff agreed Mercedes’ struggles at Spa were not unexpected given recent and historical form.
“The last [race] where we have been quickest was Silverstone. We were really good in [Paul] Ricard and Austria. And since then Ferrari has been quicker in Hockenheim, you can say Budapest was no surprise, Spa was always a bit of a tricky one for us in the past as well.
“Monza was a good one so I’m very curious to see how it’s going to go in Monza. Last year we were very much in control of the whole weekend, Ferrari had their worst weekend of the season performance-wise.”
Wolff added he’s “not worried” about their position in the championship fight. “I think we should still address the opportunities that exist within our car where we need to optimise and only that will make us win the championship.”
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Todfod (@todfod)
28th August 2018, 8:35
I don’t see how Mercedes’ traction problems out of slow corners will be any lesser of a disadvantage at Monza. There’s a chicane at the end of the 1st straight followed by a swooping right corner and another chicane at the start of the lap in Monza.
Given Ferraris advantage on power and traction out of slow corners, I just don’t see Mercedes taking a win here either.
SparkyAMG (@)
28th August 2018, 9:04
As per LH’s quote, it’s the really slow chicanes that the W09 seems to struggle with.
The first chicane at Monza is similar, but the others are much quicker than the Bus Stop chicane at Spa. You could visibly see on TV how slow Mercedes were through there compared to the Ferrari.
I doubt Mercedes will win either, but the performance deficit will probably be smaller and might lend itself to a closer race.
anon
28th August 2018, 9:13
According to Hammy, Ferrari were using engine tricks and Vettel was blowing past him on the straight.
Now he’s saying it’s mechanical grip in the slow corners that is the problem.
Simon (@simon999)
28th August 2018, 9:18
He’s mentioned both aspects on a number of occasions already, and both are widely accepted across the paddock – Ferrari has had great traction out of slower corners for a while now and has overtaken rivals in the engine department too.
No need to constantly look for things to try and make drivers look bad, is there?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
28th August 2018, 9:35
As Bottas said after Friday practice: Ferrari’s advantage isn’t just on Spa’s long straights
Kribana (@krichelle)
28th August 2018, 15:04
It must be the acceleration. Autosport said that they just accelerate out of corners with a higher whistle than all teams. Also, I think Lewis should use lower gears to get more acceleration because last year, he was using a higher gear than Seb on most slow corners. I am guessing Ferrari have been trying to get the best acceleration and it seems obvious that they are quicker during starts than the Mercedes.
anon
28th August 2018, 17:23
Vettel’s good at starts. Raikkonen is not.
Hammy is not a noted good starter. Butchered 7 starts in 2016.
Dom (@3dom)
29th August 2018, 13:27
@krichelle he’s probably using a higher gear to minimise wheel spin and allow his tyres to last longer. That suggests either the Ferrari power unit is more driveable than the Mercedes or that their suspension allows for better traction. I assume a combination of the 2, with suspension helping the most
SparkyAMG (@)
28th August 2018, 9:46
@anon according to you Ferrari are using engine tricks.
Hamilton specifically said Ferrari had some ‘trick’ things on their car. Trick = clever, neat, special, nifty, etc etc. He and indeed Mercedes themselves in Spa have only acknowledged that Ferrari are doing a better job and that their own car isn’t currently a match.
anon
28th August 2018, 11:56
My interpretation when talking about “tricks” is deceit ie. trickery. Hammy is trying to imply that Ferrari’s new engine developments aren’t legal.
Maybe “trick” means something different on a council estate. I’m not a full bottle on Stevenage slang.
But my interpretation is that he’s trying to imply trickery/cheating.
Martin
28th August 2018, 12:04
Well at least you are honest that you are completely biased.
You are the one talking about “tricks” not Hamilton. How dare you accuse Ferrari of cheating!
No that is just your interpretation. Hamilton can’t control that and it’s arrogant of you to suggest that the way you interpret things is 100% they way they are.
anon
28th August 2018, 13:30
You are giving your interpretation and I’m giving mind.
I don’t take Hammy at his word on this. That’s all.
Gigantor (@kbdavies)
28th August 2018, 14:04
@anon
this is a highly prejudicial statement bordering on racist. He explained EXACTLY what he meant by what he said, but you CHOOSE to interpret it according to your innate prejudices which you have let out of the bag.
There is nothing wrong with growing up on a council estate, and no, they do not have their own “slang”.
SHAME ON YOU.
anon
28th August 2018, 15:55
I apologise if you interpreted my comment that way.
I’m just saying that different social classes use different language.
Growing up on a council estate you will use different slang or vernacular to someone attending a public school.
paulguitar (@paulguitar)
28th August 2018, 16:07
‘anon’
Your Hamilton hatred is ugly to witness and does you no favours at all. Try to let go of it. You will probably feel generally better in your life.
Michael Brown (@)
29th August 2018, 1:12
“Racist”
And now you’ve invalidated everything you’re going to say.
Joseph (@bigjoe)
29th August 2018, 19:46
@kbdavies @paulguitar
Lewis did not grow up on a council estate. Around the time his brother was 2-3 years old there are photos showing him living in a house with landscaped front and rear gardens.
Karting costs tens of thousands per year and his Dad had his own IT contracting company to help fun it. I doubt they met the criteria for a council house.
As for slang, the Hamilton’s accent is quite well spoken and probably originates from well spoken family in Grenada.
IMO though in his interview he did insinuate that Ferrari wern’t legal
Ajaxn
28th August 2018, 21:37
I don’t think this Ferrari ‘trick’ comes out of nowhere. Prior to this performance boost the Ferrari were producing a lot of oil fumes out their rears, is that still the case? And if not where did the oil fumes go?
Another trick which i’ve not seen dismissed would be ‘fly wheels’ to store energy and and then use in acceleration,
would this older tech be legal? It would be the equvalent of the KERS, but wouldn’t be bound to the limits already imposed on the KERS systems. On the down side fly wheels would come with a weight penalty and might even be considered dangerous if there were a major accident.
Anyone have any thoughts on the narrow rear wing trialled by Red Bull, do you suppose something like that might
be on the cards for Mercedes, or would that seem desperate?
paulguitar (@paulguitar)
29th August 2018, 21:23
@bigjoe
Lewis spent his early years in a council flat, and karting was done on a very tight budget with poor equipment until he got sponsored. His dad worked 3 or 4 jobs to fund it and the IT company came later. IIRC in the early days, Anthony Hamilton was doing IT work for British Rail.
Joseph (@bigjoe)
29th August 2018, 22:33
@paulguitar
Anthony Hamilton was 37 years old when he bought Lewis his first Kart and would have been earning well above the UK average salary in IT at that age.
He’d previously bought Lewis an expensive RC car to race at 5-7 years old? Back then RC cars were pricey kit and not a ‘council estate kid’ toy.
A second hand cadet Kart package in 1993-94 would have been around £800.
If it was “poor” it wouldnt have passed scrutineering, and if the motor was “poor” he wouldn’t have been able to compete. Practice fees £15-£20, race fees £25. This was all a lot of money back then, kids growing up on council estates didn’t have access to these hobbies. (1993/94 was also an era of higher unemployment)
paulguitar (@paulguitar)
29th August 2018, 22:38
@bigjoe
He did grow up on a council estate. I won’t argue with your karting cost breakdown.
Either way, he’s done rather well…:)
NoName (@noname)
28th August 2018, 10:59
@anon Stop looking for things that ain’t there, Hamilton never said Ferrari uses tricky engine, stop lying.
Tom
28th August 2018, 14:27
You can’t just make things up because it’s what you think @anon
Maybe you’re just a bit passed it ? I’m not from a council estate either but I understood what he meant. Especially when he said trick not tricks.
YellowSubmarine
28th August 2018, 18:22
Anon’s opinion of Hamilton is exceedingly negative, and is well-known on this platform.
Don’t feed the troll.
Parth Joshi
28th August 2018, 8:42
Last year we were very much in control of the whole weekend, Ferrari had their worst weekend of the season performance-wise.”
God he is salty.
Martin
28th August 2018, 12:06
Who Toto Wolff? Doubt it.
Tom
28th August 2018, 14:29
Hahahaha fail ! Trying to Hamilton bash and getting the wrong person! You couldn’t make it up.
Sundar Srinivas Harish (@sundark)
28th August 2018, 14:48
That’s not salty, that’s a rational assessment. Last year, Ferrari were good, but Mercedes were better here. You could see the frustrated attempts of Vettel that simply had no outcome. Mercedes did well at Spa.
anon
28th August 2018, 9:10
Vettel’s at a big disadvantage to Hamilton because he doesn’t have a teammate taking points off the the opposition.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
28th August 2018, 9:25
Kimi has earned more points this year than Bottas has.
frood19 (@frood19)
28th August 2018, 9:59
@drycrust that’s not entirely the point (though it is at least relevant). the point is how many times has bottas beaten vettel versus how many times has raikkonen beaten hamilton?
VB > SV – China, Spain
KR > LH – China
so neither of them are doing much taking points of their team mate’s main rival. you could say Raikkonen could have done better in Canada (vettel did win after all). and in Baku if raikkonen had qualified properly I think he could have been up there interfering rather than just passively driving around in 4th all race. ditto Germany (vettel was leading, the least Raikkonen could have done was to inherit the lead).
anon
28th August 2018, 10:18
Don’t forget that Mercedes have sacrificed Bottas to use him as Hammy’s rear gunner on several occasions.
Todfod (@todfod)
28th August 2018, 12:32
@anon
And Ferrari have never the same with Kimi.
Martin
28th August 2018, 13:31
Like when? If you claim Hungary you have to explain why they pitted Bottas when Raikkonen pitted. If you cant then you have to accept you are wrong. Mercedes ran Bottas’s strategy to net Bottas the highest place he had the potential to get, and if his tyres had lasted a few laps longer it would have worked.
Michael Brown (@)
29th August 2018, 1:14
Germany for one
ColdFly (@)
28th August 2018, 14:34
And interestingly, in China Bottas took more points away from Hamilton (3) than he did from Vettel (2) ;)
@frood19
ADUB SMALLBLOCK (@waptraveler)
28th August 2018, 14:32
Yep, Kimi has outscored Bottas, so no Ferarri deficit there!
Angela (@angie)
28th August 2018, 9:44
@anon Arithmetic is obviously not your best talent.
Johnny Five
28th August 2018, 20:09
@Angie
Well, it’s not English comprehension and grammar, nor is it tact and diplomacy. So, we wonder, where does his (or is it her?) talents lie? Oh I know! It’s catering! Because anytime you want a storm in a teacup…
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
28th August 2018, 9:19
If Ferrari’s car is still as good as it was on the weekend then I don’t see why it can’t win at Monza as well, after all Mercedes won at both Spa and Monza last year (and the year before that too), suggesting winning at one is a good sign for winning at the other.
Dean
28th August 2018, 13:49
Ferrari was the fastest car at Spa last year too. Lewis had just enough to keep them behind though. The difference from Spa to Monza for Ferrari was huge last year. Maybe they’ve fixed that but think Toto and lewis are spot on. It won’t be the Ferrari dominance it was this weekend at Spa.
Kribana (@krichelle)
28th August 2018, 15:10
Vettel got into 3rd at Monza last year and was on average 0.3-0.5 slower than Bottas and Hamilton. Last year at SPA, he was keeping up with Hamilton and matching Hamilton on their best working range tyres. So, both of them are correct.
Panagiotis Papatheodorou (@panagiotism-papatheodorou)
28th August 2018, 9:55
In Spa the only really slow corners are La Source and Bus Stop. Same number of corners in Monza. I don’t know where this statement comes from Lewis.
Hugh (@hugh11)
28th August 2018, 10:19
Only the first chicane is that slow, so 1 less than at Spa. La Source was a huge disadvantage too, as they were then on the back foot all the way up to Les Combes. Second chicane at Monza is slow-ish, but the traction isn’t crucial, and the rest of the corners are all medium-high speed.
Panagiotis Papatheodorou (@panagiotism-papatheodorou)
28th August 2018, 13:17
The run though to the second chicane albeit shorter than that to Les Combes can hurt them quite a bit. I except Ferrari beating them in Sectors 1,3 and being very close in Sector 2.
joseph
28th August 2018, 16:21
Ferrari clearly is the fastest car, but Hamilton can invite the rain whenever and wherever necessary!
Dean
28th August 2018, 18:14
Ferrari was the fastest car at Spa last year too. Lewis had just enough to keep them behind though. The difference from Spa to Monza for Ferrari was huge last year. Maybe they’ve fixed that but think Toto and lewis are spot on. It won’t be the Ferrari dominance it was this weekend at Spa.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
29th August 2018, 3:43
Good comment from hamilton, many said ferrari had the fastest car at silverstone, while he said it was mercedes, I thought they were pretty much even, a crazy recovery from hamilton and should’ve been able to win without the bad start, but in qualifying clearly it was him putting together the perfect lap and ferrari having half a tenth or 1.
Also monza was terrible indeed in 2017 for ferrari, ricciardo was faster than both drivers and overtook raikkonen and got very close to vettel towards the end, on a power track!
And hadn’t it been for the puncture verstappen would’ve been on the ferraris much earlier in the race since both red bulls were recovering from the back and verstappen was ahead, and most likely would’ve got past vettel too.
There was no way vs mercedes and I expect ferrari to be a bit stronger than them this year regardless.
Otto
29th August 2018, 8:43
This is all nonsense .Every years mercedes has been strong in China.But not this year.
One cannot say with certainty which car will be faster at any track.
Joseph (@bigjoe)
29th August 2018, 19:56
Vettel overtook Lewis with a brilliant move on lap one, so ‘Ferrari being better in the race’ hardly mattered in that sense.
Mercedes could have the small edge and not have passed Vettel anyway.
Mercedes also had the fastest speed trap times.
Ferrari might well have a ‘trick’ they are hiding from the FIA, it’s up to Mercedes to do a better job of spying. Hopefully a better job than their emission cheating and price fixing (see links below).
And to think they try to make out Alonso as the bad guy. They hate him because he blew the whistle on what they were involved in.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-32426042
http://fortune.com/2018/06/13/germany-mercedes-emissions-cheating-defeat-unauthorized-software/