Lewis Hamilton and George Russell on Mercedes' F1 W14: “But if Red Bull have found the same lap time…”
Mercedes conducted an initial shakedown following the168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: launch of their W14 on Wednesday, bef෴ore Russell and Hamilton got back behind the wheel foꦗr a filming day on Thursday.
Hamilton and Russell both said the run had gone “smoothly” despite online speculation that the 🐼team had faced some early gremlins with their brand new car.
But the British duo are continuing to downplay Mercedes’ expectations ahead of the new campaign following a difficult 2022 season with their troubled W13, while Red Bull and168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: Max Verstappen dominated.
“If we sit here now and say ‘we will win this or win that’ it would b🐟e foo🍸lish,” Russell told Sky.
“I think 💖we can have expectations and hopes of how the car will feel and how the car will perform.
“But if Red Bull and Ferrari have found the same amount of lap time that we have, we’re in the same position as w𓂃e were last year.
“You can’t be naive and think we’ll be right back there [in the title fight] because ཧwe just don’t know.”
Mercedes are hoping the all-black W14 can power them back to the front of the grid after slipping behind Red Bull and Ferrari in F1’s pecking order last ℱseason.
Ham⛎ilton is lookin⭕g to bounce back and claim a record-breaking eighth world title after going winless during a season for the first time in his career.
“This is on🌸e of the most exciting periods of time,” Hamilton added.
“We have a great team of people who have worked hard to make today possible. We have a new car - the most exciting part, it’s like Christmaꩲs for the two drivers! We get to use our new toy and see what it’s like.
“I love the black. Last year we were heavy, we were carrying extra weight and baggage which really held us back. The focus this year is to sacrifice the look for performanceꩵ. It still looks great.
“Every second that we have on track will be critical. We have less time than ever before. From a driver’s perspective - understanding your tool, understanding how your bod🐼y reacts, how you can work with your tool, theꩵ set-up, understand where the issues are so we can fix them as early as possible.
“H🍌opefully there aren’t any - but there always are! It’s crucial. It’s crunch time.”
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for mahbx.com around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people wꦚho matter in the sport.
