Lewis Hamilton issue ‘put to bed’ as Mercedes find W15 suspension cause
Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton have closure on a W15 suspension issue which he flagged up on the US GP Sprint formation lap.
Lining-up P7 for the 19-lap race around the Circuit of the Americas, Hamilton came over team radio before the action had even gotten underway, complaining during the formation lap that he could hear a “clicking” sound under braking.
Lewis Hamilton W15 bearing issue found by Mercedes
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock
When Mercedes got the car back after the Sprint and investigated, they found that the issue came from a broken bearing.
“Anyone who watched it on the TV would have heard Lewis saying, ‘I can feel it clicking, I can feel it clicking’, as he got ready for the Sprint race,” Mercedes’ technical director James Allison said in their US GP debrief.
“When we stripped the car after the Sprint race, a race in which he struggled to get the car’s handling to be sweet-natured, we found that one of the bearings that holds one of the wishbones on had started to break up.
“That was making it move around and giving him that clicking noise, which also was associated with inconsistent handling, which is the main reason he was feeling the back end of the car, even though it is a front-end problem. It translates to the car feeling loose and unpredictable and that had an impact on his race in the Sprint.”
Hamilton’s Saturday in Austin would not get much better as later that day, he suffered a shock Q1 exit in qualifying for the United States Grand Prix.
However, ahead of that session, Mercedes were at least able to rectify the suspension issue.
Lewis Hamilton issue ‘put to bed’ as Mercedes find W15 suspension cause
Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton have closure on a W15 suspension issue which he flagged up on the US GP Sprint formation lap.
Lining-up P7 for the 19-lap race around the Circuit of the Americas, Hamilton came over team radio before the action had even gotten underway, complaining during the formation lap that he could hear a “clicking” sound under braking.
Lewis Hamilton W15 bearing issue found by Mercedes
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock
When Mercedes got the car back after the Sprint and investigated, they found that the issue came from a broken bearing.
“Anyone who watched it on the TV would have heard Lewis saying, ‘I can feel it clicking, I can feel it clicking’, as he got ready for the Sprint race,” Mercedes’ technical director James Allison said in their US GP debrief.
“When we stripped the car after the Sprint race, a race in which he struggled to get the car’s handling to be sweet-natured, we found that one of the bearings that holds one of the wishbones on had started to break up.
“That was making it move around and giving him that clicking noise, which also was associated with inconsistent handling, which is the main reason he was feeling the back end of the car, even though it is a front-end problem. It translates to the car feeling loose and unpredictable and that had an impact on his race in the Sprint.”
Hamilton’s Saturday in Austin would not get much better as later that day, he suffered a shock Q1 exit in qualifying for the United States Grand Prix.
However, ahead of that session, Mercedes were at least able to rectify the suspension issue.
