'We know why we're slow' | Hamilton, Russell on Vegas chances - and 2024 hopes

Lewis Hamilton, George Russell on Mercedes' Las Vegas GP chances and the work to improve for F1 2024 The Mercedes team-mates speak to Sky Sports ahead of the Las Vegas GP about the team's current form on the back of a wretched Brazil and the ongoing work to hit back in 2024; watch the Las Vegas GP live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Showcase, with Sunday's race at 6am Last Updated: 15/11/23 2:01pm Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Lewis Hamilton says the Mercedes have learnt from their failures in Brazil, but admits the car is still probably not good enough to win a race this season Lewis Hamilton says the Mercedes have learnt from their failures in Brazil, but admits the car is still probably not good enough to win a race this season Formula 1 arrives in Las Vegas to race under the neon lights of the Strip for the first time aiming to put on a show befitting the city's self-styled tagline of the Entertainment Capital of the World. For Mercedes, the desire to deliver a competitive performance on the brand-new street layout is particularly strong coming as it does on the back of their dismal showing at the last race in Brazil, which team boss Toto Wolff described as his worst weekend in F1.Speaking in exclusive interviews with Sky Sports News at a Mercedes and IWC event in Las Vegas ahead of the race weekend, Hamilton said the team now "100 per cent know what went wrong" with the set-up of the W14 at Interlagos, but they cannot be certain yet how a car that has been unpredictable all season will fare in Vegas. "Still ultimately, we didn't do a good job," added Hamilton, who finished in seventh place and 63 seconds behind race winner Max Verstappen in Brazil."But a lot of learnings from it in terms of where we need to go and where we need to develop. "Through failure there is always a lot of things mostly you learn from those experiences. So coming here I think hopefully we have a better approach but we still don't know how the car is going to be here."Mercedes have two races left to avoid their first winless campaign since 2011 - two seasons before Hamilton and Wolff joined what would become F1's dominant team. But their biggest priority is securing second place in the constructors' championship, in which they hold a 20-point lead over Ferrari."It's still not a world championship-winning car and I don't even think it's probably a race-winning car still. That's what we're going to have to work on for next year," said Hamilton, who last won a race in Saudi Arabia in December 2021."But either way we're going to be fighting to try and stay ahead of the Ferrari and the fact that we are competing for second in the constructors' title is amazing given from where we started. So I'm really hopeful we can maintain that position." Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Lewis Hamilton says Formula 1 can't be a 'circus' which shows up and affects local people negatively Lewis Hamilton says Formula 1 can't be a 'circus' which shows up and affects local people negatively Team-mate George Russell, speaking to Sky Sports at the same promotional event at Speed Vegas, said the chilly night-time conditions that the floodlit track sessions are set to take place under this weekend could make the event a "weekend of opportunity" in a season totally dominated by Red Bull and Max Verstappen."It's definitely going to be a bit of an unknown because these Pirelli tyres are challenging at the best of times. But they're developed to operate in warm climates," said Russell."We always talk about the temperature of the tarmac and it normally operates between 30-60 degrees whereas estimates are probably between 10-15 degrees here. So twice as cold as the tyres are used to dealing with. So qualifying's going to be difficult to get your temperature in [to them]. The race, the tyres are going to be graining. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast, Karun Chandhok reveals the challenges the track designers faced when mapping out the Las Vegas street circuit Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast, Karun Chandhok reveals the challenges the track designers faced when mapping out the Las Vegas street circuit "So it's going to be a weekend of opportunity."But, who knows, maybe we go out there, the tyres are performing well and we see them the same order as we have done recently."'We know why we're slow' | Can Mercedes deliver for 2024?Mercedes' longer-term objective remains to return to championship contention and the upcoming F1 off-season therefore represents a crucial winter for them as they build what they have confirmed will be a very-different 2024 contender.Russell says he and Hamilton have been aligned in their feedback on the W14 through this year. He insists Mercedes understand why they have been off Red Bul