Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton wants less of a 'rollercoaster' F1 season
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton hopes that his season becomes less like a "rollercoaster ride" after an inconsistent start to the 2017 Formula 1 season


Hamilton cut Sebastian Vettel's 25 points lead down to 12 in the drivers' standings after a third victory of the season in the Canadian Grand Prix, helping to close the gap after difficult races at Sochi and Monaco - with a win in the Spanish GP between them.
The three-time world champion says that getting the W08 working at full potential is still a tough task for Mercedes, but that it has learned from previous races this year.
"For us, personally getting the car where we need it every weekend is definitely a challenge," he said.
"But I think we've learned a lot from Monaco and I think we've learned a lot [from Canada].
"If we acquire the same diligence that we did in the past two weeks after every single race, even when we win, I'm pretty sure that we can continue to fight, and maybe not make the rollercoaster ride so up and down."
Hamilton highlighted the team's turnaround from Monaco to Montreal as a sign of the team learning from its mistakes.
"The teamwork, the engineering, was so much better," he added.

"We really understood where we went wrong, we really understood where the car was wrong, why we couldn't activate the tyres.
"We came here with real knowledge, rather than an idea of what potentially might have been the case and 'we'll try a couple of them'. We came here with a real know-how of how to fix it."
CANADA FASTEST LAP WAS FOR DATA
Hamilton added that his surprise fastest lap in the final stages of the Canadian GP was not for "fun", but rather for data purposes.
The lap time was a second faster than his previous best in the race, and came when he was comfortably ahead of his team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
"It was not for fun," he said. "I had not really needed to put the car on the limit during the race.
"When I come back and do my engineering I have to give back information, and I get a lot of that information from doing 70 laps of the track.
"There are several different states you can put the car in, and I was like 'one lap I need to put the car properly on the limit'.
It was firstly to see how the tyres react - do they wake up, do they get better, do they get worse, does the car react differently on the kerbs?
"If I hadn't done that lap, I would have come out of an hour and 45 minutes, or whatever it is, with a little bit less information."

Sauber boss Monisha Kaltenborn says F1 has become 'too technical'
Renault F1 boss Abiteboul says Kubica not on team's list for 2018

Latest news
Daytona 24: Westbrook’s Ganassi Cadillac tops second practice
Richard Westbrook ensured Cadillac’s new V-LMDh snagged top spot in second practice for the Daytona 24 Hours, ahead of the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Andretti Autosport Acura.
Auer suffers back injury in Daytona 24 practice shunt
Mercedes driver Lucas Auer has suffered a back injury and been taken to hospital following a violent crash in opening practice for this weekend's Daytona 24 Hours.
Daytona 24: WTR Acura tops heavily interrupted FP1
Five red flags disrupted the first practice session for this weekend's Daytona 24 Hours, while Filipe Albuquerque put the Wayne Taylor Racing Andretti Autosport Acura on top.
Pedrosa to make KTM MotoGP wildcard outing in Spanish GP
Dani Pedrosa will make his first MotoGP race start since the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix with a wildcard entry for KTM at this year’s Spanish GP in April.
The crucial tech changes F1 teams must adapt to in 2023
Changes to the regulations for season two of Formula 1's ground-effects era aim to smooth out last year’s troubles and shut down loopholes. But what areas have been targeted, and what impact will this have?
Are these the 50 quickest drivers in F1 history?
Who are the quickest drivers in Formula 1 history? LUKE SMITH asked a jury of experienced and international panel of experts and F1 insiders. Some of them have worked closely with F1’s fastest-ever drivers – so who better to vote on our all-time top 50? We’re talking all-out speed here rather than size of trophy cabinet, so the results may surprise you…
One easy way the FIA could instantly improve F1
OPINION: During what is traditionally a very quiet time of year in the Formula 1 news cycle, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been generating headlines. He’s been commenting on massive topics in a championship that loves them, but also addressing necessary smaller changes too. Here we suggest a further refinement that would be a big boon to fans
How can McLaren keep hold of Norris?
Lando Norris is no longer the young cheeky-chappy at McLaren; he’s now the established ace. And F1's big guns will come calling if the team can’t give him a competitive car. Here's what the team needs to do to retain its prize asset
What difference did F1's fastest pitstops of 2022 make?
While a quick pitstop can make all the difference to the outcome of a Formula 1 race, most team managers say consistency is more important than pure speed. MATT KEW analyses the fastest pitstops from last season to see which ones – if any – made a genuine impact
When F1 ‘holiday’ races kept drivers busy through the winter
Modern Formula 1 fans have grown accustomed to a lull in racing during winter in the northern hemisphere. But, as MAURICE HAMILTON explains, there was a time when teams headed south of the equator rather than bunkering down in the factory. And why not? There was fun to be had, money to be made and reputations to forge…
What Porsche social media frenzy says about F1’s manufacturer allure
Porsche whipped up a frenzy thanks to a cryptic social media post last week and, although it turned out to be a false alarm, it also highlighted why manufacturers remain such an important element in terms of the attraction that they bring to F1. It is little wonder that several other manufacturers are bidding for a slice of the action
Why the new Williams boss shouldn’t avoid ‘Mercedes B-team’ comparisons
OPINION: Williams has moved to replace the departed Jost Capito by appointing former Mercedes chief strategist James Vowles as its new team principal. But while he has sought to play down the idea of moulding his new squad into a vision of his old one, some overlap is only to be expected and perhaps shouldn't be shied away from
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.