Mercedes engineers told to follow Lewis Hamilton's feedback for promising W15
Damon Hill urges Mercedes engineers to continue listening to Lewis Hamilton's feedback to develop W15
Mercedes engineers have “responded” to Lewis Hamilton but must continue to give him what he wants, says Damon Hill.
Hamilton topped the timesheets on Thursday at the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix in the second practice session.
His unexpectedly quick showing - leading a Mercedes 1-2 with George Russell second-fastest - was followed by praise for the new W15 car.
Hamilton cited the adjusted seat position which was a regular criticism of last year’s car.
“They have responded to what he has been asking for. This is important,” ex-F1 champion Hill said on Sky Sports.
“A driver like Lewis… he’s not an engineer but when he is saying something to the engineers, they don’t have any basis for what he is saying.
“They can’t see it in the engineering.
“Yet, give him what he wants, and he feels better in the car.
“It underlines the importance.
“These things are tools. They are not abstract things.
“Engineers look at the numbers and say ‘everything about this car is amazing’ but nobody can drive it! So that’s no good!
“It’s a tool. It has to marry up with the person and the way that they drive.
“This has been a bug-bear for racing drivers and for myself.
“It’s something I’ve seen happening in this sport increasingly over time - engineers are getting drivers to drive the car in the way that they want it driven.
“In Formula 3 and Formula 2, over the past few years, this is a trend.
“But not everybody drives the same. Everyone has their own different style.
“Give the driver what they want. That’s where Adrian Newey is brilliant, because he listens to the driver.”
Naomi Schiff added: “When you have a car that is not working for you - as he has described the past two cars - then you can’t connect the dots as a driver.
“You try everything you can, but it’s not coming together.
“To have a car which finally feels like a racing car must be such a relief.
“Now, they can both make their magic happen. “Which they couldn’t for the past two years.
“Just that sensation of being able to drive the car in the way that you want to is a great feeling.”
The W15 will be the last Mercedes F1 car that Hamilton will drive because he will join Ferrari in 2025.
Whether Hamilton and Russell can again top the timesheets on Friday in qualifying remains to be seen.
It was notable on Thursday that the Red Bulls - Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez - managed only P6 and P10 respectively leading to speculation that the true performance hasn’t yet been unveiled in Bahrain.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
