Lewis Hamilton gives blunt interview as Brit and Wolff ‘lower than ever’

Lewis Hamilton was left deflated after the Austrian Grand Prix with Mercedes now “lower than ever”, according to Damon Hill. The seven-time champion appeared numb and gave short responses after struggling to P7 in Spielberg. 

Hamilton repeatedly complained over team radio and was furious when he was hit with a penalty for track limits violations. At one stage, the 38-year-old claimed the W14 couldn’t steer properly into corners which was the reason why he was crossing the white line. 

When asked if there was an issue, Hamilton replied: “Uh, what problems? There was nothing wrong with the car. The car was fine.” Pushed on whether it was just a lack of performance, Hamilton responded: “Yep.”

The former world champion added there was a lot for the team to work on ahead of next weekend’s British Grand Prix. He remarked: “Lando did a great job today, McLaren were super quick.

“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, no.” After listening to Hamilton, former world champion Damon Hill hinted the team were low on morale after a dip in their pace.

The ex-Williams star commented: “I don’t think I’ve ever heard them sound lower than that in a long, long time.”

Mercedes appeared to have turned a page after installing new upgrades at the Monaco Grand Prix. The squad achieved a double podium finish in Spain with Hamilton also third in Canada.

Team boss Toto Wolff concluded it was a “bruising day” for the team based on their improvements at the last couple of races. He commented: “The car had no pace today. It was a bruising day I would say, because we had a such a good upward trend, so it’s tough to take. No [reason why]. There was no pace, no inkling why.”

But, the 51-year-old also admitted Hamilton were not nursing any issues with his W14. He added: “I think that’s when the moment you slice the tyres through the corners, you have no grip and that’s what happened.”