Mercedes ride is as bad as Baku 2022 at resurfaced Interlagos

Lewis Hamilton criticised the resurfacing work at Interlagos after a poor first day of running at the track in which he qualified 11th for the sprint race.

The Mercedes driver said the track felt so bumpy at the start of practice it reminded him of his painful race in Azerbaijan two years ago when the team were struggling with their uncompetitive, bouncing-prone W13 chassis. Mercedes had to resort to increasing the car’s ride height, he added.

“The ride is pretty bad on the track, I think for everyone,” Hamilton told the official F1 channel after today’s running. “The track has been resurfaced and they’ve not done a particularly great job, I think, so it’s bumpy for everyone.

“[First practice] was like Baku 2022 for us down the straight, it was hitting so hard. So we did lift the car and it was a little bit better in terms of it wasn’t hitting the deck so badly. So I wasn’t in pain or anything like that, but through corners the thing’s hopping through corners, the thing’s very hard to drive.”

Hamilton said he isn’t concerned about starting three places outside the points for the sprint race, and is focused on improving his car for qualifying for the grand prix.

“It is what it is, it’ll be what it is,” he said. “I’m not really massively bothered, if I’m honest.

“If I can move forwards in the sprint, great. I’ll try again in qualifying two, make some changes to the car and see what we can do.”

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His team mate George Russell was also dismayed by the state of the track’s surface.

“The track’s so bumpy, I don’t know what happened when they repaved it,” he said. “But it’s the same for everyone.”

Russell at least managed to qualify further up the grid than his team mate. “It was challenging session as it got colder as the session progressed,” he said. “[Sixth], as I’ve said for a little while, that’s where we are as a team so it could be better, could be worse.”