Lewis Hamilton says the Mercedes W14 Formula 1 car felt “at its worst” during Friday practice at the Hungaroring.
Hamilton ended the second practice session in 16th place after the first outing was hit by wet weather.
The seven-time World Champion was heard bemoaning a lack of grip towards the end of FP2 as Mercedes carried out a long run on Medium tyres.
Hamilton was critical of the new tyre rules in play for the weekend, which sees just 11 sets granted to each driver instead of 13 and set compounds dedicated to each qualifying segment.
“I only had one set to use in the entire session, so it’s not really a great format, this change they’ve made this weekend,” he said.
“It just means we’re getting less running. So, not ideal and, you know, there’s a lot of wet tyres they throw away at the end of the weekend, like, a lot.
Mercedes began the 2023 campaign on the back foot but has been introducing upgrades recently in an attempt to redevelop back towards the front of the field.
Hamilton scored a podium last time out at the British Grand Prix, crossing the line in third place behind Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
However, the 38-year-old says he isn’t pleased with the early performance of the Mercedes car at the Hungaroring and is aiming to turn the pace around ahead of qualifying on Saturday.
“No, it wasn’t feeling good at all,” Hamilton said. “It was feeling like… the car [was] at its worst today.
“So we’ll work on the set-up tonight and hope that tomorrow… Usually, last year, it felt terrible in the beginning and then, in the end, we turned it around with some set-up changes.
“So we’ll work on that tonight and hope that tomorrow will be better.”
Keyword: Hamilton: Mercedes W14 felt ‘at its worst’ during Hungary practice