Lewis Hamilton hints at Mercedes optimism over upgrade at F1 US Grand Prix
"We’ve just been a bit out of sync and we ultimately lost our way"
Lewis Hamilton insists Mercedes “veered off” in their car development but can realign at the F1 United States Grand Prix.
Mercedes will bring a notable upgraded package to Texas this weekend.
They are hoping to arrest a downturn in form for Hamilton and teammate George Russell.
“Normally [Mercedes are] on the move all the time, so they’ve definitely had time to analyse where we’ve gone wrong,” Hamilton told Motorsport Week.
“But also we’ve been a bit out of sequence [compared] to the others.
“The others have all upgraded at times we haven’t, so we’re bringing an upgrade here for example.
“Some people probably will bring small pieces here, but maybe not everyone will have the same upgrade we have here.
“Others brought it to Zandvoort and to Monza I think it was for Ferrari, so I think we’ve just been a bit out of sync and we ultimately lost our way a little bit with set-up.
“Trying to get as much from this car that’s slowly deteriorating on the floor for example.
“So I think we understand where we’ve gone wrong, I think not necessarily wrong, but where we’ve veered off and I’m hoping this weekend we can start back on a better balance.”
Mercedes chose to revert to their pre-Spa floor spec after their updated version did not yield the results that they hoped for.
The long run without success suffered since Red Bull became F1’s top team was ended earlier this year, initially when Russell won the Austrian Grand Prix.
Russell and Hamilton won three out of four grands prix in that buoyant period.
It even led to some claims that Hamilton had been hasty in swapping the in-form Mercedes for Ferrari in 2025.
But Mercedes’ good results have since petered out.
An updated W15 this weekend in Texas could restore Hamilton and Russell to the podium positions.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
