Lewis Hamilton “definitely won’t miss” the 2022 Mercedes car after a “kick in the teeth” in Belgian Grand Prix qualifying.
The Briton was only seventh fastest at Spa Francorchamps, though will start fourth on the grid after all the engine penalties have been applied.
But it wasn’t the position that particularly irked Hamilton, it was the inconsistency of the Mercedes, that was on pole in the hands of George Russell just one race earlier in Hungary.
“We came here very, very optimistic we would be able to be close [the gap to the front],” he told Sky Sports. “Half a second, who knows.
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“To be 1.8 seconds behind [Max Verstappen who was fastest], it’s a real kick in the teeth, but it is what it is.
“I’m gutted for the team because we’re giving it our all but it’s the fundamentals of this car – sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s really bad.
“It’s a car that we continue to struggle with and I definitely won’t miss it at the end of the year.”
Indeed, Hamilton thinks it is time for Mercedes to give up on the W13 and switch all focus on avoiding the same mistakes in 2023.
“For me, it’s just about focussing on how we build and design next year’s car,” he said. “The other two teams [Red Bull and Ferrari] ahead of us are in another league, and our car looks so much different to theirs.
“Everyone’s working for improvements, [but] we have a lot of work to do. We will do the best we can for the rest of the season.”
The same disappointment was felt by teammate George Russell, who will start one place behind Hamilton on the grid.
“Mercedes qualifying P7 and P8 is not where we want to be and we know that’s not where the car is,” he said.
“We know we don’t have the fastest car or the second fastest car, but we definitely have a car that is capable of more than P8 and P7.
“It’s not just [the gap] to Max, we were six-tenths behind the Alpines,” he noted.
“Always when the temperatures are cold, we struggle. We saw that in Imola this year and many other Fridays when it’s been a cool Friday. We just can’t seem to get the tyres working.
“I’m confident we’ll have a lot more pace tomorrow compared to the Alpines and the McLarens and the Williams as well. But we’ll still probably half a second to a second behind Red Bull and Ferrari.
“We need to look overnight and try to understand it – qualifying is out of the way and that is our weak point – and try to be faster tomorrow.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff went even further in his critique of the team’s lack of consistency.
“You can’t be on pole three weeks before, albeit for very different conditions, different track, and then be 1.8 seconds off the pace at the next one,” commented the Austrian.
“So there’s something which we totally don’t understand, or seem to get right.
“Clearly, Red Bull is here in a league of their own, as the next Ferrari is eight-tenths off. But that is no consolation.
“It’s for me the worst qualifying session that I had in 10 years. Irrespective of what positions we’re going to start tomorrow, being on pole the previous race and three weeks later being nowhere, it’s just not acceptable for ourselves.”