Lewis Hamilton believes that Mercedes still have time to work towards being in the battle for the World Championship. It has been a difficult start to the season for the Silver Arrows, with the W13 continuing to be affected by issues including porpoising. Those struggles rolled over to Imola, with both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton failing to make it out of Q2 during qualifying. It is the first time that a Q3 session has seen no Mercedes participation since 2012. The outfit were again unable to match the pace of Ferrari and Red Bull ahead, with team boss Toto Wolff having already suggested that their chances of winning a title in 2022 stand at around 20 per cent. When asked whether he agrees with Wolff's assessment, Hamilton admitted that it will be a challenge for Mercedes. "I'm not a mathematician, so I don't know what the percentage chances are," the seven-time World Champion told media, including RacingNews365.com , ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. "But it's definitely tough. It's a tall order, that's for sure."
Hamilton remains hopeful that Mercedes can fix car
With a further 19 races remaining in 2022 - following the weekend at Imola - Hamilton is still optimistic that the team can resolve the W13's issues. "There's a long, long way to go," he explained. "We have seen, in at least the previous year, how much happens in a season. [There are] still so many races to go, there's still time for us to turn this around. "There's still time for us to fix this car and extract the full potential, and that's what I know that all the team are working flat out to try to achieve."
Can Mercedes turn it around in Imola?
In terms of Mercedes' prospects for the weekend ahead, Hamilton does not expect any huge strides forward, but hopes that there may be some small signs of progress. "Every time I get in the car, I'm hoping that it's going to feel better," the Briton commented. "Ultimately, it's fundamentally still the same car. I know that everyone at the factory has been working very hard over Easter to try and bring even the smallest bits of improvements to the car. "We don't have anything that's groundbreaking, that's going to change our result, but I hope that we do move slightly forward this weekend."
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