Lewis Hamilton has admitted that he is still having problems getting the maximum out of his brakes and believes the issue could be a concern around Monza which is brake heavy.
The Mercedes driver, who won last year when he drove for McLaren, explained that the W04’s Front and Rear Inter-Connected (FRIC) system is partly to blame, as it reduces roll and pitching under braking which in turn changes the way it brakes.
“The car is different to the McLaren, it behaves differently and it pitches differently,” he said on Thursday. “It’s just the way the technology is now, there are some things that help us benefit elsewhere but it hampers the car a little bit for me under braking. It’s something we are working on and we can improve on over the course of time.”
The 28-year-old says he’s getting the best out of it, but believes it could be his achilles heel on Saturday and Sunday.
“It’s not been that bad over the last few races. I think I’m getting the best out of it. If you look at my brake pressure compared to Nico’s, who’s much more comfortable with it, they’re similar, but if you look over the past seven years my brake pressure was way more than Jenson’s, way more than Heikki’s and it was always more than Fernando’s. That’s the difference that I see this year but we are just trying to make improvements on it and I am doing the best I can with it.
“I think my biggest concern will be braking, so that will be my real focus – to maximise braking stability and getting the most out of the brakes.
“I need that confidence to really attack them, which I’ve had for so many years, and I still don’t feel like I have that now. There’s no reason why this weekend is going to be any different but that’s just a particular point I need to focus on more than at any other weekend.”
