Lewis Hamilton has speculated that Mercedes possesses a new ‘party mode’ to extract more performance ahead of another front-row lockout at the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix.
Hamilton is continuing to enjoy a career renaissance in his second year at Ferrari, taking third during Saturday’s Sprint Race in a car he is more comfortable driving.
This form continued in qualifying, lining up third for Sunday’s race as “best of the rest” behind the dominant Mercedes duo of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.
But the top spot still eludes Hamilton, despite the dramatic turn around in pace, which the seven-time world champion believes he can account for.
Recalling knowledge from his extensive tenure at Mercedes, Hamilton believes the Silver Arrows are deploying a mode similar to “party mode”, that it utilised so effectively.
“In qualifying, they have another mode that they’re able to go to, a bit like a ‘party mode’ back in the day, and once they get to Q2, they switch that on, and we don’t have that.
“So, whatever that is. And then in the race, they obviously don’t have that mode, so they still obviously have an advantage overall. “
Lewis Hamilton sets sight on “Party Mode” technology?
Hamilton then set a clear goal in Ferrari: to understand the intracacies of Mercedes’ power deployment, and has pinpointed where its advantage is coming from.
“We’ve got to figure out what that is, but there’s something more they’re able to extract, particularly in Q2.
“You see, [in Sprint qualifying] SQ1, we were not that far away, and then all of a sudden it’s like a huge step.
“A tenth in SQ1 behind, I think it was, and then all of a sudden it’s seven tenths or another half a second. It’s a big step.”
Hamilton’s statement on the supposed “Party Mode” is another step in in the seven-time World Champion’s recovery, he is now thinking ahead, and of those around him.
He can clearly see the top step of the podium in his sights. At present, it is a case of so clear, yet so far from his first race win in red.
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