LONDON, UK—Seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton, insists it will be ‘an absolute miracle’ if his Mercedes W13 car has 4 wheels, brakes and a steering wheel in time for the the first race of the 2022 season.
“I know I say this every year but honestly man we are so far behind,” Sir Lewis told The Race. “Honesty man, at this stage I’ll be incredibly surprised if we even have a car with 4 wheels for Bahrain. You know, maybe by Monaco if we’re really lucky.”
Having been accused in previous years of deliberately downplaying his teams’ chances, Hamilton denied he was playing mind games and stressed he was only focused on his own goal of qualifying for Q2 at least once this season.
When asked what his thoughts were on Red Bull and Ferrari’s progress so far in testing, Hamilton said he was paying no attention to the front of the grid.
“Honestly I’m more interested to see what Haas and Alpha are up to,” Hamilton said, while circling Mick Schumacher’s Haas VF-22. “Yep just as I thought. 4 wheels too… Man this is going to be such a competitive grid this year,” Hamilton said shaking his head at the Mercedes garage. “We really should get started on the engine at the very least.”
