The 2023 Formula 1 season witnessed a minor shift in the pecking order, with Red Bull yet again instilling its authority over the rest of the grid while the ever-dominant Mercedes found itself tumbling down the order amidst an unexpected performance boost from McLaren and Aston Martin. Indeed, Lewis Hamilton and Co. tried their best to revive the team’s depleting performance.
However, the efforts proved to be rather ineffective, as Toto Wolff eventually took the tough decision to stop W15 development and shift the entire focus to next year’s challenger W16; But, of course, not before the Austrian gave his ardent fans a glimmer of hope. The Mercedes F1 boss reckoned that the team won’t be abandoning 2023 altogether and instead, the engineers would be seeking every possible way to maximize the updates made so far.
Hence, heading into the Italian Grand Prix, there was a sense of optimism brewing within the Brackley outfit and a podium seemed not too far from achievable. Unfortunately, it isn’t always that expectations and reality match, which is certainly the case for the Wolff-led pack this weekend. While Hamilton wanted to fight for podiums at Monza, Friday’s practice outings have scripted an entirely contrasting story.
Can Lewis Hamilton and Co. fight for podiums at the Italian GP?
Following the second practice session, Hamilton admitted that W15 has yet again failed to meet the expectations and hence, the target for Saturday’s qualifying session is making it into Q3. “I’m hoping to get into the Top 10. Getting into Q3 would be nice, and then we’ll see where it goes from there,” Hamilton said according to an X page.
“With our current pace, I don’t know how easy it will be to get into Q3 but that’s what we’re going to work on overnight. [Friday] morning we were easily in the Top 3 – I’m just going to keep my fingers crossed and hope that we can get there,” the seven-time world champion concluded.
#ItalianGP 🇮🇹: Lewis Hamilton’s expectations for quali: “I’m hoping to get into the Top 10. Getting into Q3 would be nice, and then we’ll see where it goes from there.”
“With our current pace I don’t know how easy it will be to get into Q3 but that’s what we’re going to work on…
— deni (@fiagirly) September 2, 2023
The only relief for Mercedes is that the W15 somehow comes alive on Sundays. Hence, if not a podium, both Hamilton and his teammate George Russell will be aiming for a solid points finish and secure themselves from Aston Martin in the constructors’ standings. The threat isn’t just limited to the constructor but also to the drivers.
While Mercedes are under pressure from Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso is running away with P3 in the drivers’ standings. Hence, can Hamilton manage to reduce his 12-point deficit to the former Renault world champion?