Lewis Hamilton admonishes Mercedes W14 after a disappointing sprint: "It's gone, and I'll be happy"

Lewis Hamilton has criticized the Mercedes W14, saying that he will be happy when it's gone. Hamilton had a horrible sprint race in Brazil, where he was just unable to keep his tires alive for long.

The Mercedes driver did have a good launch and passed Sergio Perez on the first lap. It did not last long, however, as Lewis Hamilton's tires started to fade after a few laps.

As a result, he was easily overtaken by Sergio Perez in his Red Bull. Soon after, Lewis Hamilton completely ran out of tires and the second half of the race was all about keeping his position.

The seven-time world champion was, however, unable to accomplish that. First, he lost position to Charles Leclerc, before being passed easily by Yuki Tsunoda. After the race, hamilton was disappointed in the W14 and admitted he was counting the days before he would not have to drive it again. He told Motorsport.com:

"The last couple of races we've been excited that we're progressing, and it's been really positive to see. And you come to another track and then you have the worst deg that you've had for ages. So it's like you just don't know what to expect with this one. But only a couple more races with this car and it's gone, and I'll be happy! This year, you're just counting down the days, trying to enjoy every day as you can."

He added:

"It was a very tough race. I think we got a good start and then... balance. We tried to get the right balance with the wing, just a lot of understeer, snap oversteer, and the rear tyres just dropped off. And in the mid-sector, huge understeer. I don't know whether we got the set-up wrong. We probably got the set-up wrong, but it is what it is."

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"I think we have one the draggiest cars": Lewis Hamilton

Talking about the Mercedes car, Lewis Hamilton felt that the car was one of the draggiest on the grid and that didn't help on a track like Interlagos. He said:

"I think we have one the draggiest cars. Our floor is not as strong as perhaps the Red Bull for example, so we have to have a really big wing, and then we're just slow on the straight. We can't use anything smaller."

He added:

"I don't think that's going to help," he said. "It's one of those circuits that's challenging for tyres, but that's the worst deg I think I've ever had here. I can't remember the last time I had that bad a deg here."

Hamilton will be P5 on the grid at the start of the main race and will be hoping to put together a much better performance.