Hamilton makes decision over Austin upgrade ahead of Mexico.....

Hamilton makes decision over Austin upgrade ahead of Mexico City GP

The seven-time world champion has opted to use Mercedes’ most recent upgrade ahead of Mexico this weekend, despite troubles he experienced in Austin.

The 39-year-old lost the rear of his W15 in Austin, ending his United States GP short on lap five. The incident was believed to have been caused by balance issues from the new upgrades.

The assumption was supported as team-mate George Russell had a similar problem during qualifying at the same corner at Turn 19. The incident was near identical to Hamilton’s off.

Russell’s crash in qualifying resulted in the new parts being damaged. The new parts have been flown back to Brackley for repairs, hoping to be available for Brazil. Therefore, Mercedes had to make the choice of who will have the upgrades on the car still for Mexico.

After qualifying, Hamilton initially offered to give the new parts to Russell as the seven-time world champion wasn’t happy with the balance of the car. The 39-year-old ended qualifying knocked out in Q1 – the first time since 2017.

However, the Brackley team has agreed to have Hamilton keeping the new parts on his W15, with Russell running the previous specification. Having two different specifications will allow for direct comparison between the pair

Having looked at the data post-race, Hamilton has changed his mind over his strong agenda against the upgrades. Instead, he believes the Austin issues was due to the track being so bumpy

“We can see in the data that we have three wheeling, so the left wheel starts moving,” said Hamilton. “The car is jacking, basically

“So you can imagine, there’s a small window where the downforce is perfect, and then it gets too high. Then you fall off the peak, so I think it was a combination of all those things.

Hamilton makes decision over Austin upgrade ahead of Mexico City GP

The Mercedes driver retired from last weekend’s race in Austin after losing the car on lap five

Lewis Hamilton has decided to use the Mercedes’ Austin upgrade at this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix.

Hamilton lost the car on lap five at last weekend’s US GP (Image Credit: Peter Fox – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

The seven-time world champion has opted to use Mercedes’ most recent upgrade ahead of Mexico this weekend, despite troubles he experienced in Austin.

The 39-year-old lost the rear of his W15 in Austin, ending his United States GP short on lap five. The incident was believed to have been caused by balance issues from the new upgrades.

The assumption was supported as team-mate George Russell had a similar problem during qualifying at the same corner at Turn 19. The incident was near identical to Hamilton’s off.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff emphasised that it was 100% the car’s fault for Hamilton’s spin. The Austrian said: “Lewis Hamilton doesn’t lose the car

Having looked at the data post-race, Hamilton has changed his mind over his strong agenda against the upgrades. Instead, he believes the Austin issues was due to the track being so bumpy.

Hamilton will hope to have a much better weekend in Mexico (Image Credit: Mark Sutton/Getty Images)

“We can see in the data that we have three wheeling, so the left wheel starts moving,” said Hamilton. “The car is jacking, basically

Hamilton will sit out of the opening practice session in Mexico. He will be replaced by Kimi Antonelli. Therefore, the seven-time world champion will have less time to find the right set-up.