Annoyed Hamilton says performance, not car problem, to blame for Merc woes

Hamilton slipped from fifth to seventh as he was beaten by McLaren’s Lando Norris and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in Sunday’s grand prix as he finished one place ahead of Mercedes teammate George Russell. 

It was a lacklustre performance from Mercedes after the team showed encouraging signs of progress in recent races following a major upgrade that was introduced in Monaco. 

Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz reported during the race that Hamilton was struggling with a brake issue, but the seven-time world champion denied this was the case. 

“There wasn’t a problem. What problem?” a confused-looking Hamilton asked. 

Hamilton added: “There was nothing wrong with the car. The car was fine.”

Asked if it was just performance-related, Hamilton responded: “Yup.”

Hamilton admitted to being surprised by Lando Norris’ pace in his upgraded McLaren and said the Red Bull Ring highlighted the work Mercedes still have to do to improve their underperforming car. 

“McLaren and Lando did a great job today, McLaren were super quick,” he said. 

"Wasn’t expecting them to be as fast as they were but we weren’t expecting to be as slow as we were either.

“This track just highlighted some areas for us to work on. Not the greatest of days.

“The way the car felt doesn’t surprise me.”