P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Hamilton rues “really bad day” and states Mercedes “definitely won’t be winning”
Lewis Hamilton had a difficult day during the practice sessions at Suzuka, finishing 14th and over one second slower than Max Verstappen’s time. His teammate, George Russell, performed better and secured fifth place, half a second faster than Hamilton. Hamilton admitted to starting the weekend on the back foot and struggling with the car’s balance. He acknowledged that they needed to improve their performance in high-speed corners. Hamilton didn’t expect to win the race and aimed to at least move up the order. Russell commented that Red Bull seemed very quick, but not far from the second position. He believed there would be a good fight between the Ferraris and Lando Norris. Russell acknowledged that they needed to close the half-second gap to Ferrari and Lando and mentioned high tyre degradation for the race.
Source: Crash
