Hamilton: Reliability issues pattern a concerning element - MotorSportsTalk

Lewis Hamilton believes that the reliability problems he has encountered on his Mercedes car so far this season are developing into a pattern, rather than simple mistakes, after encountering yet another setback in qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday.

Hamilton arrived in Monaco trailing Mercedes teammate and championship leader Nico Rosberg by 43 points, and is without a win since last October’s United States Grand Prix.

After suffering failures on his engine during qualifying in both China and Russia, Hamilton looked set to be sidelined once again when he stopped in the pit lane at the start of Q3 in Monaco.

Mercedes confirmed that Hamilton’s car had a fuel pressure problem, but fixed it in time for him to complete one flying lap run towards the end of the session, qualifying third.

Hamilton was downbeat after qualifying when speaking to NBCSN, hinting that if he continually made errors as Mercedes was doing, it would not be accepted.

“Acceptable? I don’t know whether that’s for me to say,” Hamilton said.

“Of course, if I was messing up my laps every time, perhaps they’d say that’s not acceptable.

“But I really don’t know what to say at the moment. Honestly, it’s not a great feeling right now. I’m just trying to keep myself together.

“We’re getting further and further into the championship with more and more problems.

“This is becoming a norm for me.”

Hamilton was then asked by NBCSN pit reporter Will Buxton: “At what point does this stop being about mistakes and start being something that’s deeper that you need to as a team get on top of?”

“I think it’s already at that point personally,” Hamilton replied.

“For me, personally, it’s not a good feeling right now.

“The other car just keeps going, and going, and going. And for whatever reasons…

“I was quickest today. The weekend’s gone great. Just when it counts, something seems to happen quite often.

“But I’m sure we will regroup and shoot the s**t and try and figure it out.”

The Monaco Grand Prix is live on NBC from 7:30am ET on Sunday, with F1 Countdown beginning on NBCSN at 7am ET.

Follow @LukeSmithF1

Three riders remain locked in a tight battle with 17 points separating the leader Cooper Webb from third-place Chase Sexton and these are only a few Supercross numbers to consider entering Seattle.

Seattle Supercross numbers — *Chase Sexton made a statement in Detroit with his second win of 2023. – Feld Motor Sports*

For the fifth time in 10 rounds. Sexton, Webb, and Eli Tomac shared the podium in Detroit. Between them, the trio has taken 23 podiums, leaving only seven for the remainder of the field. Jason Anderson, Ken Roczen and Justin Barcia have two each with Aaron Plessinger scoring the other.

Webb and Tomac won the last four championships with two apiece in alternating years, but they were not one another’s primary rival for most of those seasons. On the average, however, the past four years show an incredible similarity with average points earned of 21.0 for Webb and 21.3 for Tomac. With five wins so far this season, Tomac (23 wins) leads Webb (19) in victories but Webb (43) edges Tomac (41) in podium finishes during this span.

Tomac has won two of the last three Seattle races and those two wins in this stadium are topped only by James Stewart. Fittingly, if Tomac gets a third win this week, he will tie Stewart for second on the all-time wins’ list. Tomac tied Ricky Carmichael for third with 48 wins at Oakland and took sole possession of that spot with his Daytona win.

Sexton still has a lot to say and after winning last week in Detroit, he is speaking up. The Supercross numbers are against him entering Seattle, however, because a points’ deficit this large after Round 10 has been erased only once. In 1983 David Bailey was 47 points behind Bob Hannah, and like Sexton he was also in third place. Bailey took the points’ lead with one race remaining.

The seven points Sexton was penalized last week for jumping in a red cross flag section in Detroit could prove extremely costly.

In fact, it has been a series of mistakes that has cost Sexton the most. In the last two weeks, he lost 10 points with a 10th-place finish to go with his penalty. Erase those, and all three riders hold their fate in their hands.

Plessinger’s heartbreak in Detroit is still fresh, but the upside of his run is that was his best of the season and could turn his fortunes around. Prior to that race, he led only seven laps in three mains. He was up front for 20 laps in Detroit with five of those being the fastest on the track.

Last week’s win by Hunter Lawrence tied him with his brother Jett Lawrence for 17th on the all-time wins’ list. With the focus shifting to 250 West for the next two rounds, Jett has a great opportunity to pull back ahead. The real test will be at the first East / West Showdown in East Rutherford, New Jersey on April 22.

Last Five Seattle Winners

450s
2022: Eli Tomac
2019: Marvin Musquin
2018: Eli Tomac
2017: Marvin Musquin
2014: Ryan Villopoto

250s
2022: Hunter Lawrence
2019: Dylan Ferrandis
2018: Aaron Plessinger
2017: Aaron Plessinger
2014: Cole Seely

By the Numbers

Detroit
Indianapolis
Daytona
Arlington
Oakland
Tampa
Houston
Anaheim 2
San Diego

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Dylan Ferrandis may return before SX finale
SMX develops “Leader Lights”
Power Rankings after Detroit
Hunter Lawrence defends Haiden Deegan
Results and points after Detroit
Chase Sexton wins in Detroit, penalized seven points

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