Lewis Hamilton has admitted he 'doesn’t enjoy' driving his 2022 Mercedes car, amid ongoing problems for the Silver Arrows. The Brit has struggled to get going so far in the new campaign, and another underwhelming qualifying showing in Australia sees him go into tomorrow’s race fifth on the grid.
The Englishman no doubt headed into the new season with hopes of securing a record eighth world title. However things have not gone to plan so far, with Hamilton well off the pace of the early leaders Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen.
New regulations introduced to the cars in 2022 were brought in to ensure much more competitive and closer fought races, following the recent dominance of Hamilton and world champion Verstappen.
Hamilton and his team however are struggling to adapt, and he has now made a damning admission about his car. He said: "I enjoy the role of working with the team. I don't enjoy driving the car but I enjoy the collaboration of working with the guys, knowing that there is a steep hill to climb and just remaining hopeful we will get there."
As has often been the case this campaign, the seven-time world champion once again found himself well off the pace of both Leclerc and Verstappen in Australian GP qualifying, with the Ferrari man taking pole position, whilst the Dutchman took second. In third will sit Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez, whilst McLaren man Lando Norris will start fourth.
Then finally comes Hamilton, who has at least built on his qualifying horror show in Saudi Arabia where he could only manage 15th place before going on to secure 10th in the Grand Prix. Despite some improvement, the Englishman admitted he has no solution to Mercedes’ recent problems.
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He added: “It takes a long time to make stuff but there is nothing particularly exciting coming at the moment. I wish I could be optimistic and say the next one we have something better coming, but at the moment we don't."
The issue behind the Silver Arrows problems is said to stem from the 'porpoising' which is caused from a disruption in the airflow under the car, and the team believe fixing this could get them back to the top of the grid. However Ferrari are said to possess the same difficulty but have still been able to produce the quickest car of the campaign.
This is something that Hamilton struggled to understand. He continued: "I don't understand it and I don't think anyone does. I wish ours was the same, but it's not."
