‘Nothing makes a difference’: Lewis Hamilton reveals frustration with underperforming Mercedes
Hamilton finished 13th in Practice Two on Friday as Mercedes teammate Russell managed 11th
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Your support makes all the difference.Lewis Hamilton has admitted he is frustrated by Mercedes’ performance after a difficult Friday at the Australian Grand Prix.
The seven-time F1 world champion, who has finished third and 10th in the opening two races of the season, showed signs of improvement in the first practice session in Melbourne as he guided his car to seventh.
But the team then regressed in FP2 as Hamilton could only manage 13th and his Mercedes teammate George Russell did not fare much better as he placed 11th.
Speaking to Sky Sports, a disappointed Hamilton said: “It was a difficult session. Nothing you change on the car makes a difference at the moment, that’s the difficult thing.
“You get in very optimistic, and you make changes, and then it doesn’t seem to be wanting to improve. We made some changes going into P2; P1 was better and P2 ended up being a bit harder for me. I don’t know, it’s just a tricky car.
“I don’t think it will be tricky to find our way back, it’s just there’s not a lot we can do. This is the way it is, so we just have to drive with it.
“That’s the frustrating thing because you’re trying to push, you’re trying to catch and even when you do a decent lap, it’s 1.2 seconds down, so it’s difficult.”
Ferrari and Red Bull continue to lead the way as they did in the first two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Charles Leclerc topped the timesheet in FP2 ahead of defending world champion Max Verstappen.
Fellow Ferrari and Red Bull drivers Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez also made the top five, with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso posting an impressive fourth place ahead of Saturday’s qualifying.
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