Lewis Hamilton said he lost a significant amount of time because of problems with his car during the Japanese Grand Prix.
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The Ferrari driver ran third after his single pit stop during the Safety Car period at Suzuka, but dropped to sixth by the finish, 25 seconds behind race winner Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Hamilton said he experienced intermittent power issues that cost him time on track, at one point telling his race engineer, “I really need some help with battery deployment.” Speaking ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, he explained that the team had identified why performance suffered in Suzuka.
“I’ve been on the sim pretty much every week, and I’ve been at the factory a lot—training and preparing, reviewing the first three races and especially the last one,” he said. “I left Suzuka feeling we were down on power. It wasn’t the engine, but a combination of factors that were costing me eight to nine tenths a lap. We worked to identify those issues and we’ve addressed them.”
Like other teams, Ferrari used the unexpected five-week gap between races to assemble and validate upgrades they plan to introduce this weekend. Hamilton’s team mate, Charles Leclerc, said the break allowed the team to concentrate on preparation and development.
“I’ve spent many days in the factory and plenty of time on the simulator to correlate what happened over the first three races with what we see in simulation,” Leclerc said. “That helps ensure every development we bring can be tested on the sim with confidence that the outcome will match reality.”
He added that the team used extensive simulator sessions to trial the various upgrades intended for this race and to choose the development direction for upcoming rounds. “We’ve done a lot of work,” he said.
Leclerc also emphasised the value of the break given the complexity of the sport’s new regulations. “It’s been good to reset,” he said. “There’s been a flood of new information with these new cars. Having time to analyse the data and better understand and optimise what we’ve been doing was much needed.”
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