Lewis Hamilton is urging Mercedes to be “careful and cautious” over wing levels after an experimental Friday at the Belgian Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion was only 18th after a close call with Nicholas Latifi in Practice 1 at Spa-Francorchamps, before improving to third, within a tenth of pacesetter Max Verstappen, in the second session.
And reflecting on his day, Hamilton admitted he wasn’t totally happy.
“At least it was dry for FP2 so we got some laps in,” he said. “But the car wasn’t quite underneath me so we’ve got to do some work and try to figure that out.”
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In the first practice, Hamilton used a higher downforce setup before switching to the skinnier wings as used by teammate Valtteri Bottas for the second after complaining of a lack of top speed.
“It’s a massively challenging circuit trying to find that balance, and this morning we had it one way, we changed it for this afternoon, it was very, very similar,” he explained.
“You go faster in the first and third sector [with less wing] but you go slower in the middle, or you go quick in the middle [with more downforce] but slow in the other two. So trying to find that balance is very tricky.”
Further complicating the decision is the lottery over the weather, which could have significant repercussions.
“Naturally if it’s guaranteed to rain then you would want more downforce, but if it doesn’t rain and the weather forecast is wrong – then you’re a sitting duck on the straights,” he said.
“So we have to be very, very careful and cautious with the set-up changes we make over the next day. But it’s not our first rodeo.”
Hamilton also went on to reveal how Spa’s most iconic corner has changed compared to last year, and not, in his view, for the better.
“It’s very bumpy now through Eau Rouge,” he stated. “Something has happened and they’ve kind of ruined it a little bit.
“I don’t know if they’ve got a new patch there but there’s a massive bump right at the compression point which we have never had before.
“It’s really sharp. You feel it on the backside but I’m sure they will fix it. I think it was something to do with the mudslides and the rain or something like that.”
The track at Eau Rouge was damaged by flash flooding earlier this summer, with newly laid tarmac noticeable as the circuit rises up the hill into Raidillon.
