Lewis Hamilton

To be sat on the front-row for the Sprint was a great feeling. Racing into turn one and taking the lead reminded me of what I love so much about this sport! It was a challenging race but to get second was great.

We knew Qualifying would be much more tough this afternoon though. I made some sizeable set-up changes after the Sprint to try and improve the car in the slow speed turns. It wasn’t too bad in some corners, but I struggled elsewhere. It was challenging to get the rear tyres to stop into turn 14 and that’s where I locked up on my final lap. If I hadn’t had that, I would have made it through to Q2. I’ll be giving it my best shot tomorrow. We can still have some fun even if we are starting from P18.
George Russell

We didn’t have our best day today. With the strong wind, it was very challenging out there. The conditions had changed from Friday too, so we had to adapt. We took the Soft tyre for the Sprint and it was definitely worth the gamble. It performed OK and it gave us some good learnings for tomorrow. Ultimately, we did well to score a point.

Qualifying was also tricky. My first lap in Q2 was looking very strong but the red flag forced us to abort. We had to use another set of new tyres to progress to Q3. Without that, we would have had two new sets for the final part of Qualifying and it could have been a different outcome but who knows. We are in that fight between P3 and P8 and, unfortunately, we’ve found ourselves at the back end of that battle in the last few races in Qualifying. Small differences can have a major impact.

It is hard to predict what will happen tomorrow. It’s all to play for with those cars around us so hopefully we have the pace to move forward.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

Second in the Sprint was a good result. Lewis made a very strong start and that opened up the potential of a strong finish for us. With George, the Soft tyre was a bit of an experiment that we wanted to try. It held on better than expected and that opens up more possibilities for Sunday. Ultimately, we knew that we had outperformed where the true pace of our car was in the Sprint.

We therefore decided to make some big set-up changes between the Sprint and Qualifying to try and improve the car’s low-speed performance. The drivers chose to go in pretty different directions to support our learning process, but it clearly didn’t work for us today on a single lap. Lewis would have progressed comfortably out of Q1 without a lock-up in Turn 14 that cost him more than half-a-second.

George made it through to Q3 solidly but had just one set of new tyres available. He set his fastest lap of the session, but like two weeks ago in Suzuka, was at the back of a close group where a couple of tenths equate to four or five grid positions. We now need to focus on racing and recovering strongly tomorrow and moving forwards with both cars.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

It was great to be able to hang onto P2 with Lewis in the Sprint and for George to make enough places up to get into the points. However, neither driver was happy with the car. The wind rotated overnight and made the balance very inconsistent. In some corners we were suffering with understeer and in others the rear was very weak. To try to address that, we made extensive changes to both cars going into Qualifying. The car was quite different and ultimately that caught Lewis out in Q1 with a big lock into the hairpin on his final lap. Without that he would have gone through comfortably.

George managed a little better, but it still wasn't an easy car to drive. With only one new set of Soft tyres for Q3, P8 was ultimately the best we could do. We're at the back of a tight bunch and small steps will change the picture quite quickly, but right now we're not quick enough. We'll run the usual simulations this evening to understand how to best optimise the situation for tomorrow, but we're likely going to have to look for the opportunities to do things differently to others.

Toto Talks China

Returning to China is an important moment for the sport. As the world’s largest automotive market and second biggest economy, China is crucial to the sport’s global footprint. The growth of F1 in recent years has been positive and China is a key market in which to continue this progress. We are looking forward to racing in Shanghai for the first time in five years and bringing F1 back to the Chinese fans. With a sell-out crowd expected, I am sure it will be a fantastic event.

It will be an interesting weekend on track. With new cars, new tyres, and changes to the track surface since we last raced in China, there will be plenty of unknowns. We have the first Sprint weekend of the year too and that brings its own challenges. The changes to the format, including a second parc fermé, will be an improvement to the rhythm of the weekend – and the single hour of practice still puts pressure on to make correct decisions with imperfect information. We are looking forward to that test, though.

The headline results didn’t necessarily show it, but we made solid progress with our car in Japan. We are looking forward to building on that this weekend.
Fact File: Chinese Grand Prix

    The Chinese Grand Prix returns to the calendar for the first time since 2019 this year, having first appeared on the F1 calendar in 2004.
    That 2019 race was also F1000, the 1000th race since the inception of the sport in 1950.
    The 5.451km layout features 16 turns (nine right, seven left). The racing lap record from the first race in 2004 still stands today, set by Michael Schumacher.
    Shanghai International Circuit holds special memories for our team too, having been the site of our first win since returning to the sport in 2010 when Nico Rosberg triumphed in 2012.
    In 2005, the circuit hosted the season finale for the one and only time.
    Having originally taken place towards the end of the F1 calendar, the race moved to a more permanent slot in the early stages of the season from 2009.
    The first seven events were all won by different drivers.
    Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver at the track, triumphing six times to date between 2008 and 2019.
    Shanghai will also host the first F1 Sprint weekend of 2024.
    In a change from 2023, Friday will now consist of FP1 and Sprint qualifying. The F1 Sprint race will follow on Saturday morning, before Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday afternoon.
    This is the first year that ground effect cars (introduced in 2022) will have raced at the Shanghai International Circuit.
    As the circuit is built on swampland, the risk of earth movement below ground is increased, so steps have been taken to grind down and reseal areas of concern on the track to make it less bumpy.

Lewis Hamilton

Qualifying was generally a really good session. I think we’ve made some good improvements to the car and its balance so far this weekend. I was overall much happier in the car than I have been this year, although there are clear areas of improvement. We have taken steps in the right direction though. When we raced here just six months ago, we were over one second adrift and we’ve closed that gap to the front a little, and to our nearest competitors. Of course I was hoping for more and we are never going to be happy with P7, but we know our car is a work in progress.

Tomorrow’s race will be all about tyre degradation. Our long run pace looked similar to others on Friday, so we will see if that is the case on Sunday. I think it will be very close tomorrow so I hope we can maximise all the various factors and take home some good points.
George Russell

It was so tight out there between ourselves, the McLarens, the Ferraris, and the Aston Martins. After FP3, we knew there would only be one tenth or two between all those cars and so it proved. If you didn’t do a great lap you would end up P9 and that is what happened with me today. I made a mistake on my final lap; it’s a little bit disappointing but that is how it goes sometimes. It isn’t the most difficult race to overtake at though, and with tyre degradation and different strategies, hopefully we can move forward tomorrow. A lot can certainly happen.

We’ve started this season with several high-speed circuits. We know that is where our weakness is with this car, and we knew this weekend wouldn’t be our best. It is good that we are exposing these weaknesses as it gives us the understanding of the platform we are building on and adding performance to. It sets a clear direction for us to improve.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

The headline result of P7 and P9 is not great. The positive though is that we are not too far off the second row, just one tenth or so, at a track that was one of, if not the worst, last year. We seem to have taken a step in the right direction with the car this weekend. Everyone is pushing so hard to understand more about the W15 and how we can build on the platform we have. To see progress is therefore encouraging.

It is difficult to predict what tomorrow’s race will look like. The pack behind Red Bull is very tight so we will see what we can do. The long run data from Friday, and today’s qualifying session, shows that it could be close. We will look to maximise everything we do and the package we have to score the best result possible.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

We headed to Japan focused on trying to make the car more consistent and drivable over the weekend. Pleasingly, it looks like we've made some progress in that regard. We'd be a lot happier of course if we were a tenth quicker. That would have put us several positions higher up on the grid. The reality at the moment though is we are the wrong side of a tight bunch of cars and need to find some more performance.

Despite that, we have halved our gap to pole position from last year and can also be encouraged by the fact that even small steps forward will move us up the grid. The red flag and rain yesterday have meant we're short of long run data, but this is a race where you can move forward if you have good pace. We will be looking to make the most of the car we have, execute our strategy well, and hopefully can finish higher up than where we are starting.

Toto Talks Japan

After a difficult weekend in Australia, it’s good to get back racing in Japan this weekend. Since Melbourne, we have been focused on improving the consistency of the W15. The car has shown signs of strong performance on occasion, but we’ve struggled to deliver this at the critical moments across the first three races. Suzuka, with its famously fast sweeps mixed with some low-speed content, plus elevation change, will provide a different challenge to the circuits we’ve raced at so far. It is therefore another good opportunity to build on our learnings and analyse the work that has been undertaken since Australia.

We head to Japan at a slightly earlier time of year than usual this season. Whilst it is unlikely to have a major impact, it will be important to understand any differences that this causes in terms of track conditions. One thing that won’t change is the remarkable support from the Japanese fans. It is always a fantastic atmosphere at Suzuka and I am sure it will be the same once again this weekend.
Fact File: Japanese Grand Prix

    Suzuka holds the distinction of being the only circuit we race at that is laid out in a figure-of-eight configuration.
    After the Degner Curves, the circuit passes under the straight leading to 130R. Owing to this, it's the only F1 track that runs both clockwise and anticlockwise.
    This figure-of-eight layout is beneficial for tyre wear. It creates a more even balance between left and right-hand corners (10 being right-handers and eight to the left), distributing load more equally between tyres.
    The first corner doesn't require any braking on entry. In Qualifying, drivers don't hit the brakes until the car is cornering at close to 5G.
    That helps to generate some of the highest steering wheel torques of the entire season.
    The vast majority of the first sector at Suzuka is spent cornering. From Turn 1 until the exit of Turn 7, the steering wheel is moving almost continuously for nearly 2km of the lap.
    Just 1.2 km of the lap is spent driving in a straight line. Most of the 5.807 kms sees some lateral g-force going through the car.
    The lack of straights also means that Suzuka is just one of a handful of circuits on the calendar that has a solitary DRS zone. This is found between Turn 18 and Turn 1.
    130R is one of F1's quickest corners, taken at 295 km/h. Turn 11 meanwhile is one of the slowest at 60 km/h.
    The braking zone for Turn 11 is particularly challenging. Drivers must hit the brakes midway through the fast Turn 10. They are cornering at close to 3.5G while turning right before the hairpin left. Lockups are therefore common.
    Brake duty and wear are among the lowest we see across the year.
    Suzuka has one of the highest mass sensitivities of the season. That means that carrying more fuel is more penalising in terms of lap time and performance.
    This will be the first time the Japanese Grand Prix has taken place in April, moving from its traditional slot in the latter half of the season.
    The team claimed six consecutive wins at Suzuka between 2014 and 2019.
    In 2019, a 1-3 finish saw the team clinch its sixth consecutive Constructors’ title.
    Suzuka is one of two circuits to host the Japanese Grand Prix, along with the Fuji International circuit. The Okayama International circuit (Formerly TI Aida) hosted the Pacific Grand Prix in 1994 and 1995.
    Suzuka has played host to the final round of the World Championship on six occasions and has seen numerous world champions crowned over the years. 

George Russell

It wasn’t the qualifying session we were hoping for today. It was challenging to get the tyres in the right window, and it is so tight out there that a few tenths can have a major impact. The car felt strong in FP3 but unfortunately that feeling didn’t quite translate into the afternoon.

We know where we need to improve the car and that is in the high-speed corners. Unfortunately, there are a decent amount of those here in Melbourne, so this circuit is definitely not playing to our strengths. I do think we’ll be in a better place tomorrow though when everyone has the fuel in their car. There are also many unknowns heading into the race. Nobody has run the Hard tyre, and that will be the compound that is primarily in use throughout. We may also see some graining. I think it will be a more exciting race here than we usually see. And ultimately, it is the Grand Prix where points are scored.
Lewis Hamilton

The car felt great in FP3. It was much improved from yesterday and we were right there at the front. Going into qualifying, the inconsistencies within the car showed up though, unfortunately. The wind typically picks up here in the afternoon and I think we suffered with that today, similarly to how we struggled in FP2. The car is on a knife’s edge, and it is difficult as a driver to work around these inconsistencies.

It’s not a great feeling for anyone in the team at the moment but we will keep working away. George did a good job today to get the car into Q3. I’ll be focused on coming back tomorrow and trying to do a better job.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

It was an underwhelming qualifying session today, particularly as we were only a few tenths off the fastest time in FP3. The conditions were different between the sessions, and we suffered from that. We have a car that is difficult and small changes can cause it to be outside of the working window. There is no simple solution as it is about the complex interaction between all the constituent elements of the car.

It is frustrating that we are still saying this, but we will continue to keep working on it. It is not because of a lack of trying that we are where we are, and we will push to get better. We will keep our heads down and work through this. The car has potential, as can be seen by our performance in FP3. It is tricky to consistently get it into this place though and improving that is what we are focused on doing.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

It felt like we'd made good progress overnight and the car was working well across FP3 this morning. However, that pace didn't seem to carry into qualifying and we finished a disappointing P7 and P11. The track was a little hotter and it was a little windier in qualifying, but that does not fully explain why the car was well behaved in one session and such a handful the next. The work to understand those issues will carry on in the background as we turn our focus to the race.

We've hopefully improved the long run since Friday, but we need to be realistic as to what we can achieve from our starting positions. Managing the tyres is a challenge here. They can be fragile, but we will be a few laps in before we can start to see how we are performing in terms of degradation. It's also a race where the strategy is normally dictated by incidents on track. We'll be on our toes and hopefully we can still take away a decent number of points.