Lewis Hamilton reveals Mercedes can “really compete” with Red Bull at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has reflected on his suspension from the United States Grand Prix, highlighting how the sport suffers from such behaviour.

Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes can “really challenge” Red Bull at this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix.
A major in-season upgrade to the Mercedes W14 at last weekend’s United States Grand Prix gave Hamilton a car that could beat world champion Max Verstappen if they don’t get their strategy right.

Hamilton lost second place after the race when his Mercedes broke the rules by lowering the car too low to the ground, but the seven-time world champion is optimistic about the impact of the upgrades.
Asked in Mexico City on Thursday about his future for this event and next weekend’s Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, Hamilton said: “I think it’s always difficult to say, ‘Hey, this is it.’ It will be good here, it will be good there.

“But we definitely took a step forward and you can’t predict which races we’re going to be closer to and which races we’re going to be further away from in the next four races.”

“I think we were close last year, but hopefully we can get a little closer this weekend.
“If we have the right strategy this weekend, we can actually fight them.”

Red Bull have won all but one of their 19 Grands Prix this season, while Mercedes’ only win since introducing the new design rules at the start of the 2022 season was last year’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix, where George Russell beat Hamilton by one point.
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He added: “Brazil was a great track for us last year.
If we get close to that race again, it will be two good, strong races for us.
“And I think the gap will widen again when we get to Abu Dhabi, so I think we’ll have our best chance in the next two rounds.”

Verstappen predicts ‘tough’ weekend | \’It’s not our best song\’

Mercedes’ hopes of a first win in 2023 may be down to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez not being the most suitable circuit for the dominant RB19.

Verstappen, who is aiming to break last year’s record with a 16th win of the Mexican campaign, expects an opponent at Red Bull.
“Personally, I don’t think it’s the best round on the calendar,” the Dutchman said on Thursday.

“If you look at the behavior of our car this year, including low-speed cornering and cornering, our car is not very good.
“So I think it will be very difficult, especially in one lap.
I don’t know about racing.
Normally we did very well in the race, but I think it will be a very interesting one-lap battle.

“I think it’s not just Mercedes, but also Ferrari and McLaren.
Lately they’ve been very strong, even in a tour.”

“I have more control,” Hamilton explains of the upgrade’s progress.

Hamilton’s disqualification at Austin came after it was found that the skid plate under the floor of his car during the race exceeded the legal limit.
The Briton said on Thursday that the unacceptable handling performance was minimal and the upgrades were a key factor in his best performance of the season.

After a very disappointing 2022 campaign, Mercedes have continued to cling to a flawed design philosophy that they abandoned earlier this season, leaving Hamilton frustrated with both the performance and the state of his car as he did not was sufficiently considered during the design process.
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Get on board as Lewis Hamilton defeats Lando Norris after a tight battle for second place at the Circuit of the Americas.

But he says the changes to the American circuit have given him confidence that he can find his best self.
He said: “It’s one thing to feel an upgrade.
Of course they want you to do this all the time.
But if you look at the state of our car last year, we can add something and you can do that.
you don’t feel

“The back is always an area I want to improve.
Mainly because they have no backs and lack confidence in corner attacks.
“The steps I took there gave me the confidence to send more and we need more.

“I felt really good on the first lap.
If it was my 10th upgrade, I’d probably get a 2 out of 10 because of the extra confidence I was able to maintain throughout the race.”