Hamilton hints at the reasons for his struggles with Ferrari's F1 car
Following a tough weekend at Las Vegas, Ferrari's seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton hinted at his persisting brake issues on his Ferrari F1 car that keeps holding him back from extracting the maximum in certain conditions.
Following a disastrous qualifying session, Ferrari managed to salvage something from the Las Vegas weekend which had started promising for the Scuderia with strong pace across the Thursday practice sessions.
Charles Leclerc displayed encouraging performance across the opening two practice sessions, but he struggled for grip on the wet surface in qualifying, ending up down in ninth place.
The Monegasque had an ordinary start, but he was tagged by Fernando Alonso into Turn 1 which saw him lose a place to the Spaniard. However, he did not give up and emerged as the only driver who could complete multiple overtaking manoevures on the track.
Leclerc managed to climb through the field to finish sixth despite a downforce setup that was more suited to wet conditions. The 28-year-old then gained two places post race, benefitting from the double disqualification of the McLaren drivers.
As for his team-mate Lewis Hamilton, he made up six places on the opening lap only to spend the majority of the first part of the 50-lap Las Vegas Grand Prix behind the Haas of Esteban Ocon.
The Briton then rose into the top 10 on the hard tyre but after he pitted onto the mediums, his progress stalled and he could not pick off Nico Hulkenberg in the closing stages. He also gained two positions after McLaren’s double disqualification, inheriting P8.
Reflecting on his difficult weekend at Las Vegas, Hamilton added: "It was a tough evening, definitely not one I’ll look back on fondly. We got off to a strong start and I was able to make up a good number of places in the first stint.
"The contact with Albon in the second stint caused some damage, which affected the pace and made it harder to close in on Hülkenberg.
"On the upside, we still managed to get back into the points, and every point matters for the Constructors’. Big thanks to the fans who showed up in such huge numbers despite the really cold weather."
Pushed on to reveal what is holding him back from extracting the maximum from his Ferrari F1 car, Hamilton hinted that he is still facing brake issues with which he has struggled since he joined the Maranello-based outfit.
“After the start, I struggled with balance. I was just really struggling with the brakes that we have – locking the fronts, locking the rears, there was just no in-between, no middle ground.
“I was catching [Nico] Hulkenberg but had the slowest pace, so I wasn't really particularly quick. Then I got some damage with the Williams [of Alex Albon], and everything changed after that," concluded Hamilton.
