Lewis Hamilton described the Sao Paulo sprint race as “one of the worst races” due to the severe lack of performance and traction of its Mercedes W15 F1 car. The seven-time world champion qualified 11th for the sprint and ultimately finished in the same position, while teammate George Russell secured sixth place. Russell admitted that such a result was expected, stressing that the team would have to “accept” the current situation.

Hamilton’s desire to finish the final races of the season strong before joining Ferrari next year looks increasingly difficult, given the ongoing problems with the W15 that the team struggled to resolve until here. Mercedes is unlikely to roll out any further improvements for the W15 as the team is now focusing on the 2025 car. At the United States Grand Prix, Hamilton spun on the gravel due to from a balance problem, and the following race in Mexico saw him finish in fourth place, followed by Russell in fifth place.

However, the sprint race in Brazil once again highlighted the car’s unpredictable nature. After the start of the race, the 39-year-old lost three places to other cars over the course of the race’s 24 laps before getting caught in a DRS chain that made overtaking more difficult. Ultimately, he managed to finish the race without scoring any points. Addressing the media about the feeling of the car after the sprint race, Hamilton said:

” Horrible ! Honestly, it was really terrible today, even worse than in qualifying.

“It was really a very difficult race, it was one of the worst races. I felt the car slipping and no grip, even behind the Williams.

“I could barely keep up with them for a while. Lots of work to do trying to change the car, turn it around for qualifying.

Russell, on the other hand, who was five seconds behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, admitted that he was expected to finish between the top five and the “midfield teams”, suggesting that additional work would be carried out on the car before Sunday’s Grand Prix. but the adjustments won’t be significant enough to help it compete with the cars on the front row. He added:

“I think we finished exactly where we expected before, exactly halfway between the top five and the midfield teams.

“We’re going to try to make some improvements this afternoon and tomorrow, but we’re not going to be able to make a winning car overnight. We just have to accept that this is where we are right now.