Mercedes deal Lewis Hamilton and George Russell blow in first win hunt

Max Verstappen makes subtle dig at Lewis Hamilton in April

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Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will be desperate to end their frustrating 2022 season with at least one race win, but they only have four outings left to achieve that feat. And Mercedes’ stance on upgrades ahead of next weekend’s United States Grand Prix in Austin could spell bad news to their hopes.

Mercedes entered the new era of F1 this year in search of a ninth consecutive Constructors’ Championship with the exciting new partnership of Hamilton and Russell. But it didn’t take long for issues with the W13 car to take Toto Wolff and Co. out of the title picture in a tumultuous season.

Mercedes have completed a host of upgrades throughout the year to control the W13’s severe porpoising and improve Hamilton and Russell’s race pace. But while the Silver Arrows have somewhat made progress in challenging for pole positions and race wins as the season has gone on, inconsistencies have seen Red Bull and Ferrari leave them behind.

Hamilton and Russell will be rocking their latest upgrades at the Circuit of the Americas. According to Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin, it will be the final work done to this year’s car and the last roll of the dice to see if either driver can push for that maiden pole position or race win.

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He said: “It’s our final step of aero development, and that will hopefully give us a bit more performance. But importantly, with every step, we’re learning more and more, and that learning we can carry into next year. That’s part of it.

“Also, there are a few bits where we have taken some weight out of components that will hopefully get the car closer to the weight limit. It’s very difficult for us to predict where we’re going to be. In Singapore, Lewis was awfully close to pole position, yet in Suzuka, both cars had a big gap to the front.”

Hamilton and Russell will hope the upgrades have a similar effect to the major developments Mercedes displayed at Barcelona and Silverstone as they eye a valuable consolation from a campaign essentially to forget.

After the United States, they will have the chance of late success in Mexico and Brazil before the season finale in Abu Dhabi. But if the British duo aren’t competitive in Austin next weekend, it would be difficult to suggest they will be in their final three Grand Prix.

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