Mercedes boss Toto Wolff declared that Lewis Hamilton has experienced many unlucky moments in F1 2022 and bets on the improvement of the seven-time champion
Although struggling to decipher the W13's problems, Mercedes is still third in the Constructors' World Championship - and that's thanks to its driver duo. While George Russell has collected good points for finishing in the top-5 in every race so far, Lewis Hamilton has been in the scoring zone in six of the seven races, as well as a podium finish. It is only too true that the seven-time champion seems to have more difficulties with a problematic car.
German team boss Toto Wolff is not worried, however. Having worked with the #44 for years, the Austrian talked about the Monaco GP, where Hamilton had a touch with Esteban Ocon, as well as being many laps behind Fernando Alonso. For him, there is a bad streak.
"Lewis had bad moments at the Monaco GP - contact with Esteban [Ocon], stuck behind Fernando [Alonso], the red flag in qualifying - in addition to everything that happened in races before," he said at a press conference.
"I think the pendulum will swing, then these unlucky situations will stop happening to Lewis, he and Russell are on the same pace. In one practice one leads, then the other, and it's great how they work together because we need to get the car right," he added.
After leaving Barcelona with a broad smile, Mercedes did not repeat the good performance in Monte Carlo. Besides emphasizing that the W13 still needs adjustments, it also reiterated that the team remains alone in third position. No more, no less than that.
"The problem is that we can say, 'Well, this is a track where it is doing a little better.' It was like that in Barcelona. Or, there are also tracks where the car is worse, like Monaco," he explained.
"We are the third team. We are not second and we are not fourth. We have two extremely strong drivers, but it's a big bummer for all of us that the difference. If you're looking optimistically, it's five tenths. If you're looking pessimistically, it's eight tenths more. For all of us at Mercedes, that's not acceptable," he closed.