Lewis Hamilton hoping for Mercedes comeback in Melbourne

While Mercedes has been disappointed by its poor start to the 2023 season, Lewis Hamilton is hoping that the team will be much more competitive around the Albert Park Circuit.



Having been far off the pace on show from Red Bull, Hamilton is optimistic that his team has perfected the W14’s set-up and, combined with upgrades coming this weekend, will be able to fight for a good set of points.



In Jeddah, George Russell qualified six tenths of a second behind Sergio Perez, who claimed pole, while Hamilton was a second off the Red Bull’s pace. 



Across the Grand Prix, the Red Bull of Max Verstappen easily raced past both of the Mercedes drivers, with the car averaging a second per lap faster than the Silver Arrows.







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“I’m just hoping the gap isn’t a second and I hope that we can just hit the ground running with the set-up,” Hamilton told Sky Sports.



“If you look at the last race, I think it was a decent result given the distance and the pace disadvantage we had in qualifying.



“We’ve got a great group of people that are working really hard back at the factory that are trying to fix the issues that we have. It’s not something that’s going to happen in one race, it’s going to take a few races, hopefully as short as possible to get there.”



Although Mercedes is not where it wants to be, Hamilton was pleased the team managed to solidify its position in the pecking order, holding off Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.




Toto Wolff finally has some good news for Lewis Hamilton https://t.co/TBckfqybbV — Formula1News.co.uk (@Formula1newsUK) March 29, 2023




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“We still managed to get fourth and fifth and we’re second in the constructors championship at the moment. We beat the Ferraris, who have definitely started with a better package than we have.”



Hamilton is hoping that the conditions will favour Mercedes and reduce the risk of another runaway Red Bull success. 



“This weekend, I think I’m just hoping for some rain, if I’m really honest, because I would make it a little bit more exciting for us from my point of view. I’m just hoping the gap isn’t a second and I hope that we can just hit the ground running with the set-up,” he explained.
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