A dejected Lewis Hamilton "didn't expect to go as bad" as he did in his Mercedes at the 2023 F1 Austrian GP

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton mentioned that he did not expect the performance of the car to be so bad at the Austrian GP as it was on Sunday. The British driver ultimately finished P8 after all the penalties were applied by the FIA post-race.

During the main race, The seven-time world champion never looked comfortable with his car as he was sliding around and was the first driver to get penalized for track limit infringements.

While speaking to Motorsport.it, Lewis Hamilton said:

"I absolutely didn't expect to go as bad as today. I don't really have an answer to give. It's certainly surprising, but the feeling of the car was very similar to what I had all last year, so from this point of view it's not a big surprise. The car was definitely different compared to the last two races. The last two races have been much, much better than today."

He continued:

"We knew we had a really bad rear end here, so we took a lot of the front wing off to try and keep the balance so we could have a long run and go wide in the stint. We exaggerated and in the last two corners I was almost in full lock. In turn 10 I was sliding and there was nothing I could do about it. So, after the stops, we added a lot of wing and the car started to slowly turn around and stay on track."

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Lewis Hamilton gives his take on track limits volations in Austria

F1 Grand Prix of Austria

The Mercedes driver got a five-second time penalty during the race and an additional 10-second penalty post-race for the track limit infringements. He was among many drivers to criticize this aspect of the race and how the FIA policed the whole situation.

Lewis Hamilton said:

"I think they probably need to find a new solution for this track. Years ago, when there was no track limit, the track was much more pleasant to drive."

He added:

"It's weird driving and having to almost comment on the car in front of us, because that's what the team wants you to do. But this isn't motorsport. As soon as [Lando Norris] passed me, he went off at least 10 times and the same did [Sergio] Perez,"

It will be interesting to see if the sport takes the recommendation of drivers like Lewis Hamilton and makes changes to the track for the next season.