Lewis Hamilton admits that he doesn’t anticipate a competitive race on his final outing for Mercedes in Abu Dhabi – and he goes into the weekend with “low hopes.”
Hamilton had a frustrating time in Qatar, citing his personal lack of speed after both the sprint and main qualifying sessions.
In Sunday’s Grand Prix he picked up a penalty for a false start, had a puncture, and then earned another penalty for pitlane speeding.
At one stage he suggested that he wanted to retire the car, but in the end he stayed out, finishing out of the points in 12th place.
“It could have been worse, but I finished, and it’s over,” he said when asked by AutoRacer.it about his difficult race.
“Ultimately that was me at the start, and then the puncture was really unfortunate. And the pit lane, that was me as well. You do your best, but I’ll get back up tomorrow and give it another shot.”
He also struggled with a lack of front end, with his engineer Peter Bonnington referencing an “under balance” early in the race.
“The under balance is literally just because we didn’t get the wing setting right,” said Hamilton. “This happened many times, just basically not having enough front wing in the car, and the car just wouldn’t turn.
“So understeering massively for a long period of time. And I think that honestly, for me, felt like that’s what led to the tyre failing.
“But maybe it was debris. I didn’t see any debris, to be honest, but not ideal. It happened just as I got to the pit entrance.”
Hamilton made it clear that he doesn’t expect what it likely to be an emotional farewell to Mercedes in Abu Dhabi to see a step forward.
“I don’t think we’re going to end up on a high,” he said. “I think it’ll end. And I think what’s important is how we turn up. We’ll give it our best shot. And I don’t anticipate a particularly much better weekend than we’ve had in the past weekends.
“But naturally, I’ll try, but go in with low hopes and come out with a better result, then it doesn’t really make a big difference either way. I think these last races don’t have an impact on everything we’ve done together.”
Asked if Qatar was a season low point he added: “There’s been loads of them to be honest, so it’s been a roller coaster ride of emotions.
“But I’m just grateful I’m still standing, and I’m still okay. I’ve had great races in my life, and I’ve had bad races in my life. Not too many bad ones.”
