Austrian Grand Prix
\nSPIELBERG
\nLewis Hamilton believes his troublesome Mercedes will win this season, but perhaps not at this weekend\u2019s Austrian Grand Prix.
\nThe seven-time world champion has arrived in Spielberg for Sunday\u2019s race full of optimism that his car is finally showing its potential after a mostly bleak first half of the year.
\nLast weekend\u2019s British Grand Prix extended his winless run to 11 races, the longest in his standout career.
\nBut third-placed Hamilton was almost as happy as if he, and not Carlos Sainz, had taken the chequered flag after his Mercedes at last battled shoulder to shoulder with the Red Bulls and Ferraris.
\nThis was a massive improvement on the under-performing machine shackled by bouncing, or porpoising, as Mercedes grappled with the radical new design regulations brought in this term to produce closer racing.
\nThe problem grew so bad in Azerbaijan, that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff apologised to Hamilton over the team radio as arguably the best driver ever to grace the sport had to be helped out of the car his back was so shaken up by the bouncing over Baku\u2019s streets.
\n\u201cYou\u2019re just praying for it to end,\u201d said Hamilton at the time.
\nWith updates before Barcelona and Silverstone working their magic, the second half of the season is looking a lot more enticing.
\n\u201cYes, there was a long way back. Earlier this year, I definitely wasn\u2019t sure we would ever get a win in this car,\u201d Hamilton told a press conference on Thursday.
\n\u201cObviously that\u2019s not the way we like to think, but there was a feeling that \u2018Jesus, there\u2019s a long, long way we have to catch everyone\u2019, knowing the progress that everyone makes.\u201d
\nThe last two \u201cquite strong\u201d races have given cause for the hope that \u201cwe\u2019re moving in the right direction,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cWith a little bit more digging and a little bit more hard work, hopefully we can get a bit closer to having a chance at winning a race.
\n\u201cSo I truly believe we can get a race win this year.\u201d
\nIt would be quite a time to get off the mark for the season at the 11th attempt at the circuit owned by world champion Max Verstappen\u2019s Red Bull team.
\nBut as pleasing as that would be, Hamilton acknowledges the chocolate-box venue in the Styrian mountains has rarely been a happy hunting ground.
\n\u201cI think we\u2019ve always struggled in Austria, so it\u2019s going to be hard to win here, I think, knowing the combination of the corners\u2013but not impossible.\u201d
\nWolff, an Austrian, concurs, suggesting in the run-up to his home race that the upcoming French Grand Prix offered more appeal for Mercedes\u2019 first win of 2022.
\n\u201cI think Austria was always a little bit difficult,\u201d said Wolff. \u201cThere are three corners that we don\u2019t like, three and four with a warp.
\n\u201cBut high speed should be good there and Paul Ricard should be a good one, but we have to sort out the car generally.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Austrian Grand Prix SPIELBERG Lewis Hamilton believes his troublesome Mercedes will win this season, but perhaps not at this weekend\u2019s Austrian Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion has arrived in Spielberg for Sunday\u2019s race full of optimism that his car is finally showing its potential after a mostly bleak first half of the year. Last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-270685","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n