Lewis Hamilton reveals that his Mercedes W12 is a struggle to deal with, calling it a ‘monster diva' amid his heated battle with F1 championship rival, Max Verstappen.
Heading into the 2021-22 F1 season, Mercedes was somewhat affected by the aerodynamic regulation changes the FIA had implemented prior to the season. This impacted the overall balance of the W12, causing some issues in pre-season with Mercedes looking a tad slower than the previous season where they were accustomed to dominating the field. Given their struggles, this opened the door for Red Bull and Max Verstappen to capitalize on—and up to this point in the F1 season, they are doing just that.
Despite pre-season struggles, Hamilton hasn't shown any signs of slowing down this F1 season, however, the 7-time world champion says that it has been a massive struggle in unlocking the W12's full potential. He even recalls the 2017 Mercedes car being a ‘diva', but says that this car is a ‘monster of a diva'. He explains that he's only gotten into the optimal setup only once or twice this season—one of those times being his stellar performance at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Via Motorsport:
Hamilton shares, “I can't remember if it was last year or before, Toto would say it was a diva. But this one is a monster of a diva.”
“Therefore, when you don't get the car in the right window, you just limit your potential. So I'm just not able to maximise my ability through the setup not being in the right place, and it's been very, very hard to get it into the right place.”
With only 2 races remaining, Hamilton will be keen to replicate his performances in Brazil and Qatar to secure his 8th F1 world championship.
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