Hamilton: It [the problem] is simply with tyres

Much has been said about the new front wing Mercedes brought as part of its upgrade package that seemed to have unlocked the much trumpeted potential within the W15, but Hamilton ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend pointed out that managing the tyres was also key in the team's turnaround.

Hamilton qualified third for the Spanish GP last weekend, which was a step up for Mercedes who usually - in 2024 so far - showed pace in practice only for that to evaporate at crunch time - qualifying.

Speaking to the media in Spielberg on Thursday, Hamilton said: "There has been a huge amount of analysis, and requests of a lot of information from the team, on how we can improve where we are lacking.

“It is simply with tyres, and so just continuing to improve on our processes from session to session," he added. "Typically, once we get to qualifying, things do change a little bit. The car is obviously lighter, you are in the DRS a lot more.

"Time will tell. But I think we cracked something. Now to try and build on it," the seven-time F1 Champion maintained.

Hamilton pointed out another area of Mercedes struggle with the current ground effect F1 cars, he said: "The car aerodynamically, is more on a knife edge.

"It's not as easy to balance with the mechanical side and the aero balance from high to low speed. Getting that configuration is difficult. But tyre temp and also then how you do your out laps is key, which every single team is trying to sort.

"Just look at the Ferraris in Montreal, who didn't get out of Q2 for example," he pointed out. "That could only be tyre temperature, as they have got a quick car and they won the race before that. So it just shows that it's easy to not have the tyres working. It's easy to overwork the tyres.

“They're definitely more sensitive, I think, than any other season that I remember being in," Hamilton insisted in conclusion.

Hamilton heads into this weekend's Austrian GP after finishing third in the previous race in Spain, a massive improvement after what Mercedes' tech boss James Allison labelled as a "how could we have been so dumb" moment that revealed the errors' of Mercedes' ways since 2022.