Lewis Hamilton has revealed that a deep delve into the behaviour of the tyres helped him “crack” his previous one-lap troubles in the 2024 Formula 1 season in Spain.
Hamilton is the most decorated qualifier the sport has seen with 104 pole positions, but he had been struggling to execute clean sessions this term before Barcelona.
The Briton’s woes even caused him to suggest in Monaco that he wouldn’t defeat team-mate George Russell again in 2024 as he lagged 7-1 down in the head-to-head.
However, Mercedes dismissed the accusation, and Hamilton produced his strongest weekend in Spain as he converted third position on the grid into a podium result.
Asked how he overcame his issue, Hamilton reiterated that tyre temperature was the predominant cause as he harbours hope that he has experienced a turning point.
“I mean a huge amount of analysis, requested a lot of information from the team on how we can improve where we’re lacking it is simply with tyres,” Hamilton said.
“So just continuing to improve on our processes from session to session.
“Typically once you get to qualifying things do change a little bit, the car is obviously lighter, [and] we’re in the DRS a lot more.
“But time will tell, I think we’ve cracked something now it’s to try and build on that.”
Hamilton is convinced that his previous troubles emanated from how delicate Pirelli’s current compounds are rather than an intrinsic flaw with his Mercedes W15 car.
Asked whether it was down to the rubber or a characteristic embedded in his machine, Hamilton replied: “I think the mixture of both. I think the car aerodynamically is more on a knife edge; it’s not as easy to balance with the mechanical side and the aero balance from high to low speed, getting that configuration is difficult.
“But tyre temperature I would say and also then how you do your out laps is key, every single team is trying. Look at the Ferraris in Montreal, who didn’t get out of Q2 for example.
“That can only be tyre temperature but they’ve got a quick car, they won a race before that so it just shows that it’s easy to not have the tyres working it’s easy to overwork the tyres.
“They’re definitely more sensitive I think than any other season that I remember being in.”
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