Lewis Hamilton doesn’t have “full faith” in Mercedes rear end in Saudi Arabia

Lewis Hamilton is eager for Mercedes to give him a “stable rear” after a tricky second practice at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion ended FP2 eighth overall in the timesheets, nearly 0.8s off Fernando Alonso’s top time.

It wasn’t a smooth session for Hamilton, who had a number of oversteer moments, and a near-miss with Logan Sargeant.

Hamilton was warned by the F1 stewards following an investigation while Mercedes were fined after Sargeant was forced to take evasive action.

In terms of Hamilton’s competitiveness, he was over 0.4s off teammate George Russell, who was second-fastest.

“Difficult day,” Hamilton said. “Just lacking confidence in the rear of the car. We did some work from session to session, changed quite a bit but underlying issues with the rear end that I was struggling with.

“I had a couple of really big moments out there. In these high-speed areas you need to have full faith in the rear of the car and I just haven’t got that yet.”

Hamilton also revealed that he and Russell “went in different directions” with their setup.

“I need to go through the data and stuff. George was obviously a lot happier with his car.

“We went in different directions today. We will try and find the right solution for the car.

“All I want is a stable rear and then I will be happy so that’s what I am working on.”

Hamilton’s most recent F1 victory came in Saudi Arabia, back in 2021, where he finished ahead of Max Verstappen.