Lewis Hamilton: True pace 'a kick in the gut' | Mercedes 'desperately need upgrade'

Lewis Hamilton has described Mercedes' true speed as “a kick in the gut” after the team enjoyed varying levels of performance in Friday practice in Miami.
AMG F1 W14. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 5, Miami Grand Prix, Miami, Florida, USA,
AMG F1 W14. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 5, Miami Grand Prix, Miami, Florida, USA,

Mercedes led a 1-2 finish in the opening practice session for the 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:F1 Miami Grand Prix as 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:George Russell set the pace ahead of Hamilton.

It didn’t last as168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: Max Verstappen surged to the top of the timesheets in FP2 by over 0.3s ahead of Ferrari’s 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Carlos Sainz.

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Hamilton only managed the seve💖nth-fastest time of second practice, just over a second down on Verstappen, while Russell was well down the order in 15th.

Speaking afte💧r practice in Miami, Hamilton admitted it was a “struggle” for the team꧒.

“The same as every weekend, that we’🌃re a second down,” he said. “It’s a great weekend, it’s a✃ great place to be. There’s lots of positives. It’s just we’re not particularly quick and it’s a struggle out there.

“We’re trying lots of different things. P1 looked quite good and then in P2, the true pace came out and it’s just a kick in the gut🌟. It’s a little bit tough to take sometimes but it’s okay, we’ll just keep on working on it.

“We’ll regroup tonight an𝔍d see if we can make some setup changes and get the car in a sweete𝔉r spot.”

Mercedes are pi🌌nning their hopes on a substantial upgrade package which is set to be introduced at Imola later this month.

Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W14. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 5, Miami Grand Prix, Miami, Florida, USA,
Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W14. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 5, Miami Grand Prix…

Hamilton is hopeful that this is the start of a “new path” for the team in F1 2023.

“There isn’t just one 🌸thing,” he added. “I’m trying to stay positive with it. We’re working as hard as we can it’s just we desperately need those upgrades, that’s for sure. 

“Just got to keep our head down for one more race and hopefully we’ll start a new path at the next rac♓e.”

T✤eammate Russell shared Hamilton’s frustration, stating that they will only be happy when they’re winning again.

“This is a team of winners, everyone here wants to win and anything less is of course frustrating,” Russell said. “Week after week we🐲 know the journey we’re on at th🅺e moment.

“Still trying to ဣunderstand, still trying to grasp how to find a lot🅠 more performance to at least get us best of the rest. When we have sessions when we’re not in that position of course it’s frustrating - we always want more but that’s the same for 19 out of 20 drivers on the grid. 

“There’s onl♕y one person happy on a Saturday, one person happy on a Sunday and that’s the one who finishes first.”

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