Lewis Hamilton, the British driver for Mercedes AMG F1, expressed his intention to avoid making significant adjustments to his Formula 1 car following a successful session at the Japanese Grand Prix. Hamilton has had a challenging start to the season, with engine failure in Australia and a disappointing qualifying round. However, he remains optimistic about the potential of the revamped W15 car despite its inconsistent performance. In the practice sessions at Suzuka, Hamilton achieved the fifth-fastest time in the opening hour and improved to second place later on. Despite Mercedes expecting difficulties at the high-speed circuit, Hamilton was pleased with the balance of his car. He described it as the best session of the year so far and expressed his excitement and positivity. Hamilton mentioned that no changes have been made to the car since the successful session.
To address ongoing correlation issues, Mercedes conducted experiments on Hamilton’s car during the second practice in Australia, which did not yield the desired results. However, the team made adjustments overnight and improved the car’s performance. Hamilton emphasized his intention to stick to the baseline set-up that he was comfortable with from the beginning of the Japanese Grand Prix to avoid any setbacks. When asked about his outlook for the rest of the weekend, Hamilton stated that as long as they don’t make too many changes and disrupt the progress, they should stay where they are. He also expressed frustration with the new tyre rule, which prevented teams from running on the Intermediate tyres during the limited practice session due to a change in track temperature. Despite this setback, Hamilton remains hopeful for the upcoming races.