{"id":291925,"date":"2023-10-25T05:08:55","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T05:08:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/?p=291925"},"modified":"2023-10-25T05:08:55","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T05:08:55","slug":"lewis-hamilton-talks-down-f1-rivals-and-points-blame-for-mercedes-failures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/racing\/f1\/lewis-hamilton-talks-down-f1-rivals-and-points-blame-for-mercedes-failures\/","title":{"rendered":"Lewis Hamilton talks down F1 rivals and points blame for Mercedes failures"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/73\/590x\/secondary\/5029468.jpg?r=1698144721468\"><\/p>\n<p>Lewis Hamilton has talked down his F1 rivals by claiming he is one of the only drivers on the grid capable of challenging Max Verstappen. The Mercedes star is 265 points behind Verstappen in the Drivers&#8217; Championship.<\/p>\n<p>But he is currently ranking as the &#8216;best of the rest&#8217;, sitting third, just 39 points behind Sergio Perez, who has much faster machinery. Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris are within touching distance of Hamilton&#8217;s total.<\/p>\n<p>However, the seven-time world champion thinks only he can match Verstappen&#8217;s pace if he was given a fair chance of challenging the Dutchman.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m praying every day that we will close the gap and we will hit the ground running,\u201d Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. \u201cI want to be fighting Max, I believe I\u2019m one of the only drivers that can do so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hamilton also pointed the blame as Mercedes&#8217; pit stop crew are lagging way behind their competitors. In 2022, the Silver Arrows&#8217; stops were the third slowest on the grid, according to official rankings.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/73\/590x\/secondary\/5029463.jpg?r=1698144725971\"><\/p>\n<p>This season Mercedes have not recorded a single fastest pit at any race. In comparison, Red Bull have eight, and Ferrari and McLaren have five apiece.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve got to have the package, not only the car but we\u2019ve got to be operating better in our pit stops,\u201d Hamilton added. \u201cThere\u2019s so many areas we\u2019ve got to be levelling up to match the champions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hamilton&#8217;s pit stops were recorded at 3.6s and 3.4s during the United States Grand Prix last time out. Verstappen&#8217;s fastest tyre change was 2.5s. Toto Wolff has admitted that it is a cause for concern.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> <svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"> <g clip-path=\"url(#clip0_1078_5986)\"> <\/g> <defs> <clipPath> <rect width=\"23.4329\" height=\"23.4329\" fill=\"white\" transform=\"translate(0 0.134262)\"\/> <\/clipPath> <\/defs> <\/svg> Advert-free experience without interruptions.<\/li>\n<li> <svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"> <g clip-path=\"url(#clip0_1078_5986)\"> <\/g> <defs> <clipPath> <rect width=\"23.4329\" height=\"23.4329\" fill=\"white\" transform=\"translate(0 0.134262)\"\/> <\/clipPath> <\/defs> <\/svg> Rocket-fast speedy loading pages.<\/li>\n<li> <svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"> <g clip-path=\"url(#clip0_1078_5986)\"> <\/g> <defs> <clipPath> <rect width=\"23.4329\" height=\"23.4329\" fill=\"white\" transform=\"translate(0 0.134262)\"\/> <\/clipPath> <\/defs> <\/svg> Exclusive &#038; Unlimited access to all our content.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/logo\/logo-premium-subscription.png\"><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Our mindset in the last 12 years, we don&#8217;t need to be world champions in pitstops,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We need to avoid very slow pitstops. And it&#8217;s coming to a situation now where we realise that it has got so competitive, and we just need to ramp up our game up there.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s in terms of equipment and science around it, and the way we are set up, to avoid 3 or 3.5 seconds pitstops because all of that played a part.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/sport\/f1-autosport\/1827345\/Lewis-Hamilton-Mercedes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lewis Hamilton has talked down his F1 rivals by claiming he is one of the only drivers on the grid<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291924,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lewis Hamilton talks down F1 rivals and points blame for Mercedes failures - 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