Hamilton denied claims that Mercedes were sandbagging at the Sakhir track, despite them finishing behind Ferrari and Red Bull.
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At the Bahrain pre-season test, Lewis Hamilton has identified porpoising, wind sensitivity, and changing temperatures as the biggest challenges for Mercedes, describing his on-track experiences so far this week as difficult. Hamilton denied claims that Mercedes were sandbagging at the Sakhir track, despite the Silver Arrows finishing behind Ferrari and Red Bull on the timesheets – even predicting a 1-2 for one of those teams at the season’s first race. While the teams’ respective run plans are unknown at this time, Hamilton and Mercedes have admitted that porpoising is causing them problems as they try to balance bouncing and performance.
Hamilton finished in fourth place at the end of testing on Friday. The British racer admitted that things have been a little difficult for him and Mercedes lately. “What can I say? I think it’s just really the wind, it’s the bouncing that we have – we still have that this week [and] if anything it’s worse,” he commented.
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“We’re just working through lots of different scenarios, trying to figure out how to hold on to the downforce and not have [the car] bouncing as it was in the last test. It’s just difficult out there. It’s bumpy, it’s slippery, there’s sand. In the morning, it’s way too hot, and in the afternoon, it’s just gusty.”
Hamilton is confident that Mercedes’ issues are not due to the updated package the team brought to Bahrain, where the team drew attention with an innovative zero-pod design. “I mean, you can see on the onboards, [there are] tank slappers left, right and centre, and bouncing and bumping, [so we’re] not quite happy at the moment, but we’re trying to tame her,” the multi-time world champion said.
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“The car definitely is different to [the last test], but I think it’s more the tyres working with these temperatures, [which] are different here. It’s a different machine this week, but I don’t think it’s the change that we’ve made. I think so much great work has gone into creating this upgrade. It’s just hurdles that we’re coming across with this new kind of car, that everyone’s facing in 2022.”
