F1 News
Hamilton: Mercedes car was a "disaster to drive" during tests
Lewis Hamilton is still surprised by the performance of the 2019 Mercedes Formula 1 car. The Silver Arrows have retained a 100% win record in 2019 with Hamilton leading the championship over Valtteri Bottas.
The Brit's victory in France was his fourth win in a row, and there are no signs of that streak ending any time soon. After winning in France, he recalled the first time he stepped inside the Mercedes car in Barcelona.
“The car was looking good with the numbers and everything, we got to the test and it was a disaster to drive and it’s really difficult to know what you’ve got to change," he told reporters in France.
"The first days in testing you’re supposed to just go through a process and you don’t have a lot of time to be working on the balance and trying to get the car in the window. But eventually at the end, I was like ‘guys, I need to figure out where the window of this car is’. I definitely didn’t expect to have six wins at this point and it doesn’t feel real.”
Ferrari, who dominated the pre-season tests, has had the opposite feeling so far in 2019. More and more upgrades are coming, but none seem to be able to stop Hamilton and his Mercedes team. Mattia Binotto has confirmed the team will introduce more upgrades in Austria even if they have to sacrifice speed for grip.