22 September 2023 , 08:47
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Lewis Hamilton admitted a lack of confidence in his Mercedes car after struggling in Japanese Grand Prix practice.
In neither session on Friday did the seven-time world champion make much of an impression on the timesheets. He was outside the top 10 in both, though the first was most likely due to the Silver Arrows not completing a run on the soft tyres.
But, speaking after the session, Hamilton relayed his concerns about how his car felt on the day. "It was a very challenging day for us out there. I had a lack of confidence in the car and that contributed to our struggles," he said.
"It was difficult to find the right balance and we didn't manage to get on top of it by the end of FP2. The tyres were overheating and that left us quite far off the top of the timing sheets.
"We know we've got a lot of work to do tonight to pick up the performance. I do believe we can make improvements though. We have had similar Fridays this season and come back stronger on Saturday. We will see tomorrow if we have done so again. We will be putting in the effort this evening to give us every chance of getting ourselves higher up the order."
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Because he didn't use the softs, team-mate George Russell was also outside the top 10 in FP1. But he improved to go fifth quickest in the second session of the day and, as a result, sounded much more upbeat in his verdict.
"It feels great to back driving around Suzuka," he said. "It's such an incredible circuit. It's been a slightly strange Friday for us. The track seemed to have very low grip, particularly in FP1, so the car is sliding around quite a lot. That doesn't give you the best feeling in the world as a driver, particularly when you've got plenty of high-speed corners to tackle.
"The race on Sunday will also be interesting as tyre degradation looks very high. In terms of the relative order, the Red Bull looks to have returned to its normal pace at the front. They have been exceptionally quick today.
"I think we are likely half-a-step behind the Ferraris and the McLaren of Lando Norris at present. We've got a bit of work to do tonight to close that gap. We are typically strong at finding those performance gains so we can be optimistic of improving for tomorrow."
And, summing up the team's showing as a whole, trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin added: "We've certainly been on the back foot today... We know we must make improvements overnight. We are not underestimating the work we've got to do to be stronger over the rest of the weekend."