Both Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff has said there was ‘something to come’ from Mercedes after another disappointing outing at the Chinese GP.
Hamilton started 18th on the grid after qualifying, and rose to finish ninth in the race, which was won by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
After the race, he said: ‘I’m grateful to get into the points. I didn’t expect a lot more this weekend.’
He felt that there was improvement to come in the team before the next race of the F1 calendar in a fortnight’s time in Miami, with his teammate George Russell finishing in sixth.
Hamilton added: ‘Hopefully we have a step forward coming at the next race. Until then, we will be back at the factory next week and try and position the car better for Miami, and hopefully have a better weekend.’
Lewis Hamilton was pleased to finish in the points, but hinted there was more to come
Mercedes CEO Toto Wolff revealed that an ‘upgrade’ was coming ahead of the next race
His thoughts were echoed by Mercedes CEO Wolff, who told Sky Sports: ‘I think considering where we put the cars altogether, our drivers, our team was not in a good position for today.
‘Not good enough overall. Lacking pace. We’ve got to dig deep.
‘We’ve got something coming for Miami that looks like a good step. Let’s see where that brings us out.’
When asked if the vehicle was adequate following the first five races of the campaign, Wolff said: ‘No, no, it’s not an okay car. I think we can see the mistakes that have been on the car.
‘I think we wanted to go a bit more aggressive to see, is it something that is so different we need to do on the car?
Hamilton qualified in 18th place, and revealed he was ‘grateful’ to pick up any points at all
‘You can see Lewis today took it on him. That was maybe a step too far.’
When pressed, Wolff said that he was hopeful it would be ‘a bit’ of an upgrade when the new Mercedes hits the track in Miami ahead of the next race on May 5.