Hamilton calls on Mercedes to replace parts to help his record bid

Lewis Hamilton has called on Mercedes to reintroduce a recently scrapped part from the W15 as he bids to claim a ninth Hungarian Grand Prix win.

The British driver sealed his ninth victory at Silverstone at the previous round, a record number of wins at the same circuit in F1, and will be hoping to match that achievement at the Hungaroring.

Hamilton was unhappy with how the first and second free practice sessions at the Hungaroring went, saying the team was not “on form” during the weekend’s opening free practice sessions. However, he believes Mercedes knows why he struggled to maintain pace during practice.

He finished the first hour of practice in tenth place fastest, but improved to seventh in the second. Meanwhile, teammate George Russell had a slightly more fruitful day, finishing the two sessions in fourth and fifth place respectively.

The seven-time drivers’ champion felt something was missing in his Mercedes’ set-up but added that he believes the team understands what the problem was.

“Today hasn’t been a good day, really,” said the 39-year-old after FP2 outside Budapest.

“The weather has been good and it’s been nice to be here, but we haven’t really been in good shape so the car hasn’t felt quite set up, but I think we have an idea why.

“We will work through the night, but we won’t have the best preparation yet.”

Hamilton hopes to recover discarded W15 part

In addition to the necessary set-up change, Hamilton also suggested the team needs to reintroduce a part previously used on the W15.

The 104-time Grand Prix winner will be hoping the Brackley-based team can rediscover the form that has seen it seal back-to-back wins for the first time in the contemporary ground effects era at the most recent two rounds.

Hamilton also confirmed that no major changes were made to his car between Friday’s practice sessions, with the bulk of the work apparently due to be done before the third and final hour on Saturday.

“Small tweaks,” he replied when asked what was done between free practice 1 and 2. “The car was practically the same.”

“There is one thing in particular that we left (out of the car) and changed this weekend that we probably need to get back.

“Otherwise, everything is relatively even. We couldn’t keep up with the others today, but the long run pace was pretty decent at the end.”