Lewis Hamilton claims there’s a “night and day” difference in Mercedes’ F1 challenger in Japan

Lewis Hamilton believes the Mercedes W15 was the best it has ever been in qualifying ahead of the Japanese GP. Speaking to the on-site media after the qualifying session, the Brit felt their car had improved in terms of balance.

After three underwhelming race weekends in 2024, Lewis Hamilton is encouraged by the feel of his car in Japan. He believes the W15 has been improved in terms of balance and driveability. Mercedes have not introduced any updates on either car at Suzuka but the Brit reckons it's the best feeling he's had with the car in three years.

The Brit qualified seventh on the grid for the race and outpaced his teammate George Russell by more than three-tenths of a second. Until Japan, he had been out-qualified by his junior teammate for three races in a row, by a significant margin.

Asked how encouraging the pace of the car was in Japan, Lewis Hamilton said:

“Yeah its been a night and day difference in the weekend so far, just in terms of how far we've got with the car. I think we did a pretty good job over this past week, just the analysis everyone’s done at the factory to try and understand how we can get the car in the sweet spot. The car's been much nicer to drive this weekend. Particularly at a track like this where you need a nice balance.

“This is the nicest it's felt over the last three years. I think last year, we were over a second off, we're doing over seven tenths today. Also this weekend I'm not like trying all these different random things. So I've been just much more focused on making sensible changes sensible changes. I think it's worked. I was hoping it would be further ahead.”

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Lewis Hamilton was encouraged by the performance in the first sector of the circuit

Lewis Hamilton felt the pace in the first sector of the Suzuka circuit was extremely encouraging. He felt the Japanese circuit was a better outlier of a car’s strengths and weaknesses, making it a good test for car evaluation. The five-time Japanese GP winner felt he had a better understanding of the W15 after driving it in Japan.

Asked if the pace in the first sector was encouraging, Lewis Hamilton said:

“Hugely. Hugely encouraging. Obviously sector one here is the best first sector of any circuit. It's absolutely incredible when the car is where you want it to be and I can feel exactly where the car is weak. So I think today given, this is the proper test track, it exposes them all, the limitations of the car, where you need it to improve it. So I know when I go and speak to my engineers now, where I need to pinpoint what they're going to work on. So it takes some time.”

In Australia, Lewis Hamilton retired due to engine failure and his teammate George Russell crashed. Mercedes have managed to score 26 points in three races and have slid down to fourth place in the Constructors' championship. The British champion is yet to have a clean weekend and has managed to score only eight points and is in tenth place in the drivers' standings.