Lewis Hamilton fumed that his Mercedes W13 is "only getting worse" after a nightmare first day at the Canadian Grand Prix that left the seven-time World Champion writing off his 2022 car. The 37-year-old believes the once all-dominant Brackley team are now resigned to "toughing it out" and focussing on "building a better car for next year" as their problems worsened in Montreal. Hamilton complained that his overly stiff car was "undriveable" during his final laps on Friday as he was forced to abandon a quick lap when he almost lost control. The team must now set about finding the answer to their problem during FP3, ahead of Saturday's qualifying session. But Hamilton has suggested that they shift their attention to building their W14, their car for 2023, already.
Hamilton writes of his 2022 car after just eight races
Hamilton did not hold back in his criticism of the W13 machine which has led him to just one podium during the opening eight races of the new F1 season. "We were trying lots of different things and an experimental floor on my side, which didn't work. Nothing we do with this car seems to work," he fumed. "George went with a much different setup in FP2 just to see if one ways works and one way doesn't. I'll wait to hear from him how it went but, for me, it was a disaster. It's like the car is getting worse, it's getting more and more unhappy the more we do to it. "We've been working on it and it is what it is. I think this is the car for the year, so we just have to tough it out and work hard on building a better car for next year."
Hamilton predicts difficult weekend in Montreal
Mercedes ended the day with a lap time only good enough for seventh-best while Hamilton's experimental set-up was unable to lift him any higher than 13th. He continued: "Just one touch of the kerb and car goes flying, it's so stiff. This is not the Montreal that I know, the one that I'm used to. This is the worst that I've ever felt in any car here. "I'm hoping that, overnight, we can try and make some changes. But fundamentally, it's just the fundamentals of our car. "It is what it is. And that's it, it's going to be a struggle."
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