Following two strong race performances for Hamilton at Austin (where he was ultimately disqualified from the results) and in Mexico, Mercedes had a poor weekend in Brazil last time out.
At the scene of its most recent race win, with George Russell in 2022, Mercedes struggled with its set-up leading to bad in-race tyre degradation at Interlagos.
The situation was so bad, the team considered pulling its cars out of parc ferme following the sprint race, but ultimately decided not to do so because it did not know what changes would actually improve things for its drivers.
The Interlagos track’s many different corner types and flowing middle sector provide a major contrast to the layout F1 teams will tackle this weekend in Vegas, where the all-new 3.86-mile course predominantly consists of long straights.
Hamilton, speaking in the pre-event press conference in Vegas on Wednesday night, is therefore hopeful Mercedes will have an easier time setting up its W14 as a result, although he does fear the straights could expose the car’s ongoing issues with additional drag.
“Definitely more than the last one,” Hamilton replied when asked how confident he was feeling ahead of 2023’s penultimate race.
“I still think it’s going to be a challenge and getting the tyres working this weekend [will be tough].
“We’re often not necessarily the quickest on the straights, so that will be a challenge – to see if we can not lose too much on the straights, but keep up with everyone in the corners.
“But it’s not the most technical of circuits, so hopefully that makes it a little bit easier.”
Source: Autosport