Lewis Hamilton claims recent performance struggles not down to him: "I know it's not my driving"
Lewis Hamilton touched upon his recent struggles with performance and felt that his under-achievements were not down to him. Speaking about this, during the Las Vegas Grand Prix Free Practice, the Mercedes driver said it was "not his driving" that made all the difference.
Hamilton failed miserably during the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil, where he failed to see himself through to SQ3. On top of that, he finished the Sprint in P11 and claimed to claim any point.
His woes did not end there as he was out in Q1 in Saturday's qualifying. After qualifying in P16, the Briton started his race from P14. However, he only managed to grab P10 and the solitary point.
Following the race, an emotional Lewis Hamilton took to the team radio and said it could be his final race for Mercedes. Fast forward to Las Vegas, the same driver delivered a brilliant result on Friday. Speaking about this, Hamilton, who was feeling good post-FP sessions, said,
"I'm feeling good with myself, yeah," Hamilton told the media. "I know I said coming into this weekend, I know it's not my driving so. I just gotta work hard overnight, not to make big changes, and hopefully get some good rest tonight and come back tomorrow."
Lewis Hamilton delivered two back-to-back fiery performances on Friday's practice sessions. The British driver topped both sessions ahead of his teammate, George Russell. McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull drivers were no match for him.
Lewis Hamilton showed blistering pace in FP sessions at the Las Vegas GP
Lewis Hamilton came out on top of both FP1 and FP2 on Friday. The Mercedes driver clocked 1:35.001 in FP1 and was nearly four-tenths ahead of his teammate, George Russell. Lando Norris of McLaren finished the session in P3.
The seven-time world champion carried on his blistering run in FP2 as he clocked 1:33.825 on the timesheet. He was nearly one hundredth one a second faster than McLaren's Norris. Mercedes' George Russell wrapped up P3.
Interestingly, Hamilton's back-to-back overwhelming performances in FP1 and FP2 have arrived after the Briton had a race weekend to forget in Brazil. The Silver Arrows ace managed a solitary point in a weekend marked with the Sprint and Grand Prix races.
Mercedes' Russell also delivered two strong performances, which means they could be in the mix amid the Constructors' Championship fight with Red Bull, McLaren, and Ferrari.
The aforementioned teams are running for the 2024 Constructors' titles, with McLaren leading with 593 points, followed by Ferrari with 557 points, and Red Bull with 544 points after 21 races and five Sprints.