Lewis Hamilton reflects on Mercedes’ struggles in 2023
On the BBC microphone, the Briton reflected on the doubts that have crossed his mind this season. And on the difficulties encountered in fine-tuning his Mercedes.
Third in the 2023 F1 championship, behind the two Red Bull drivers, Lewis Hamilton had a roller-coaster season. On board a car far from the level of the Austrian team’s, the seven-time world champion concluded, for the second time in his career, a year without a win.
With the best results being second places in Melbourne, Barcelona, Austin and Mexico, and a pole position achieved in Budapest, the Mercedes driver declared that he had doubted his performances during the season.
« I had high hopes for this season »
In the end, when you encounter difficulties like these, there are always moments when you ask yourself, “Is it coming from me or from the car? Is the motivation still there? Has it gone away?”. Because you are missing something… But when the magic happens, when everything works perfectly, the car and yourself, it’s extraordinary. If someone tells you that they never go through these kinds of things, they are in denial. We are all human beings.
Regarding the performance of his car, the soon-to-be 39-year-old believes that his team did not listen to him enough, and this was the case right from the beginning of the year.
« I had high hopes for this season. I’m sure there were frustrations because I asked for a number of changes and they were not implemented. »
To justify his remarks, Hamilton goes into the difficulty of identifying the problems of the W14 during the past season.
« We had difficult discussions with Mercedes. Nobody knew exactly what the problem was. Nobody knew how to fix it. We had the experience from the previous year, we were around the table with the engineers, searching for solutions. I was able to become more positive throughout the year and tell myself, “It’s going to be a long season, but don’t give up. Keep pushing and getting the most out of the car, no matter what,” » concludes George Russell’s teammate.
Hamilton will have the opportunity to embark on his quest for an eighth world championship in 2024, marking his twelfth consecutive season in F1 with the Mercedes team. The Stevenage-born driver will continue his unprecedented loyalty to the German manufacturer, as he competed in his first 110 Grand Prix races with a McLaren powered by Mercedes. Hamilton then went on to contest the following 222 races with the factory team of the star brand, making a total of 322 races with a Mercedes engine at his back.
