Lewis Hamilton, the Mercedes driver says the car was ‘undrivable’ after his poor performance at the FP1 in Algarve.
The seven-time world champion finished at P5 at the first practice session of Portuguese GP. Meanwhile, his teammate Valtteri Bottas finished 0.319 seconds faster than the Brit and also claimed the pole.
A good start to the weekend for @ValtteriBottas 👏
And nice work from @callum_ilott on his F1 track debut👍#PortugueseGP 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/ZjmflTF0XM
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 30, 2021
The Portuguese circuit earned the nickname ‘ rollercoaster’ because of the tricky corners. The Silver Arrow knight claimed the handling of the Mercedes W12 was poor and gave him a hard time on the circuit. Even his teammate Bottas echoed Hamilton’s complaints regarding the ride’s performance.
“It is pretty undrivable,” Hamilton reported to his team over the radio during the Algarve FP1. “We need to box and make some serious changes.”
Expectations from Lewis Hamilton at the Portuguese Grand Prix
The 36-year-old Briton is already in the 15th season of his career and many speculate the driver might hang up his helmet after claiming the eighth title this year. As the Brit only signed a single-year contract with the Brackley outfit.
Hamilton has already proved many times why he’s the best driver in F1. Even in 2021, the Mercedes is being dominated by the Austrian constructor, Red Bull. However, the Billion Dollar Man won the season opener in Bahrain. Further, he showcased a heroic performance in Italy, after finishing at P2 because of dropping to P8, as Hamilton slipped off the wet circuit.
Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes AMG F1 driving in the FP1 of the Portuguese Grand Prix on Friday, April 30, 2021. (Source: Formula 1 Twitter page)
The Briton might have failed to finish in the top three at the Portuguese FP1. However, he still has the time of one day to improve the W12’s performance for the race day on Sunday, May 02.
Lewis Hamilton is revving up for the second practice session in Portugal on Friday, April 30. We might witness the Brit on the podium on the Sunday race, but Red Bull and Mercedes’ other driver Bottas are a constant threat to Hamilton.
