Russell underlined the promise of the new W15 by qualifying third for the season opener in Bahrain, but Hamilton was left disappointed eighth after set-up adjustments failed to benefit him over one lap.
However, the seven-time world champion is confident about the car’s chances in Saturday evening’s race.
“Very, very tough qualifying session,” Hamilton explained. “It is incredible to see how connected everyone is. I believe George’s position is a true testimonial to how fantastic everyone’s work at the plant has been, and they have finally given us a car to fight with.
“I just wasn’t able to use it today after making that setup update. I placed stuff on the car that we hadn’t put on before.
And I was praying everything would be okay. And I just stuck to it. I was thinking, “I’ll just continue with it.” “And, yes, driving was unpleasant.
When asked by Motorsport.com how excited he is compared to a year ago, when it was clear that the W14 was not the step forward predicted, he conceded that the session had been difficult given what could have been.
“In this moment, I’m ugh…!” he admitted. “To have such a horrible first qualifying session…”So much preparation went into this today, and it didn’t go as planned.
“But that’s racing; in terms of the season, knowing that we have a package that we might potentially compete with is quite encouraging.”
Hamilton is certain that the car provides an excellent foundation from which to build for the remainder of the season.
“The automobile is really great,” he stated. “It represents a significant improvement over prior years. A lot more stable and fun to drive.
“But we still have work to do, as you can see, but for George to be three tenths behind Red Bull – or Max [Verstappen] – is unbelievable. It illustrates what is possible.
“And I think we just need to keep adding performance. And if that’s our starting point, we’ll be able to carry on for the rest of the season.”
Mercedes manager Toto Wolff stated that the team had taken a different strategy to this season.
“In a way, we’ve thrown away the idea that we’ve won eight times, so why aren’t we doing it now?” remarked the Austrian. “We’re just the underdog; we got it wrong two years in a row.
“And now we have a car that better suits our needs. And let’s continue from here. And I’m convinced that’s going to happen.”
