LEWIS HAMILTON'S CHINA GP WOES EXPLAINED AS MERCEDES POINT OUT THE PROBLEM

Lewis Hamilton struggled with tyre temperatures as Mercedes explained another underwhelming result for the seven-time F1 champion.

Hamilton has an excellent record at the Chinese Grand Prix and starred in Saturday's Sprint race. But his qualifying was woeful and he was left marooned down in 18th on the grid for the main event.

A slow first stint saw him make little progress, though he was helped by some safety car chaos which allowed him to slip through. He was chasing down Oscar Piastri at the end, but didn't quite manage to catch the McLaren.

Team-mate George Russell was up the road in sixth but again neither of them could compete with the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari. After the race, Mercedes explained what had happened from their view.

A team statement read: "From where we started, the final result was close to the maximum with the car we had today. George's main objective was to clear [Fernando] Alonso and Piastri which he did. A strong final stint managing the degradation ensured Alonso didn't become a threat at the end.

"Lewis struggled with rear tyre temperature all race, likely as a result of the balance of the car. He benefitted from the safety cars but ultimately was unfortunate not to take P8 at the end, not quite able to get into Piastri's DRS range.

"It's been a weekend of contrasts. Likely, the sweeping changes made after the Sprint didn't help but we were able to race competitively against the McLarens, Ferraris, and the Aston Martin of Alonso."

Speaking after the race, Hamilton said ninth was about as good of a result as he could have hoped for. He said: "I'm grateful just to get into the points. I honestly didn't expect a lot more this weekend."

Hamilton alluded to Mercedes upgrades for the Miami Grand Prix next month as he added: "Hopefully, we have a step forward coming at the next race. We'll be back at the factory next week and we'll try to position the car better for Miami and hopefully have a better weekend."

Team principal Toto Wolff said: "Considering where we put the cars, altogether for the drivers and the team it was not a good position for today. Not good enough, overall. We're lacking pace so we've got to dig deep. We've got something coming for Miami that looks like a good step - let's see where that brings us out."

2024-04-21T10:23:51Z dg43tfdfdgfd