Lewis Hamilton had high hopes for the Brazilian Grand Prix as it is his second home race of the season. He is an honorary citizen of Brazil and he receives the warmest welcome from the fans in the country. However, Mercedes lacked a lot of pace compared to the previous weekends. After the race, Toto Wolff felt compelled to apologize to Lewis Hamilton on the radio.
Toto Wolff: “Lewis, horrible for all of us. Car can’t go back like this from one race to the other, we need to find out what went wrong. Thank you for surviving that.”
Lewis Hamilton: “No problem, let’s speak after. Well done to the lads, though. Not the result we wanted but still did a really great job during the weekend, good pit stops. Thanks.”
📻 | Toto Wolff: “Lewis, horrible for all of us. Car can’t go back like this from one race to the other, we need to find out what went wrong. Thank you for surving that.”
📻 | Lewis Hamilton: “No problem, let’s speak after. Well done to the lads, though. Not the result we wanted…
— deni (@fiagirly) November 5, 2023
For the past few weeks, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes’ pace was good enough to take 2nd position. It was speculated that they could have won the race if not for a slow pit stop in Austin. However, during the Brazilian Grand Prix, things were the other way around. The pit stops performed by Mercedes were decent, but the W14 lacked the pace to keep up with the leaders.
George Russell had to retire in the second half of the race due to a technical issue. Lewis Hamilton had a good start after overtaking both Aston Martin’s at the start of the race. However, as the race continued, he lost several positions and only managed to finish 8th position.
Fernando Alonso’s engineer describes Lewis Hamilton & Mercedes’s Brazil F1 pace in one word
Seeing that Mercedes were nowhere near the pace of the Aston Martins, Fernando Alonso asked his race engineer what was wrong with them.
Alonso radio: “What happened to Mercedes?”
His engineer: “They’re dying.”
Mercedes’ poor performance at the Brazilian Grand Prix has hurt them in the Championship battles. Ferrari has been chasing them for 2nd place in the WCC. Before the race started, things seemed positive for Mercedes as Charles Leclerc crashed during the formation lap.
However, Carlos Sainz put in a decent performance for the team and finished 6th place. With George Russell also retiring, Ferrari outscored Mercedes by 4 points. With only 2 more races to go, Ferrari will have to find a way to overcome a 20-point deficit to take 2nd place from Mercedes.
Alonso radio: “What happened to Mercedes?”
His engineer: “They’re dying.”
— formularacers (@formularacers_) November 5, 2023
Even Lewis Hamilton lost a lot today to Sergio Perez. Similar to Ferrari, Hamilton has been chasing Sergio Perez for 2nd place in the WDC. He closed the gap to 20 points after the Mexico City Grand Prix. However, the results of the Brazilian Grand Prix have placed him 32 points behind the Mexican driver.
Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton will have a lot of work to do in these last 2 races as they try to complete their goals. However, their main goal will be to challenge Red Bull for the Championship next season. Based on today’s performance, it is more likely that we see McLaren challenging Red Bull for the Championship rather than Mercedes.
It will be interesting to see the order of the teams for next season. Do you think any of the teams will challenge Red Bull for the Championship in the 2024 season? Post your answers in the comment section below.