The W14 was better but not victorious according to Lewis Hamilton
If Mercedes' pre-season tests went much better than last year's, there is still work to be done according to the seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton.
Mercedes didn’t really manage to adapt to the new technical regulations on ground effect, introduced in 2022, and suffered all year from this porpoising phenomenon that completely dashed their title hopes.
The winter tests in Bahrain have shown that the German team is in a much better position this year, which Lewis Hamilton has confirmed.
These few days have been interesting. It’s never easy, there have been a lot of discoveries. I think the thing that impressed me the most is that it’s my 11th year with the team, and everyone came with the same mentality, working hard, nobody was complacent. We are aware that we have a mountain to climb, and nobody cares.
Everyone kept a cool head, so I’m really proud of that. Everyone in the garage, everyone here, and I know everyone at the factory will sift through all this data and carry on. Reliability has generally been good. Obviously, we had a breakdown on Friday, but overall, it has been good. […] We’re not quite where we want to be yet, but it’s a good platform to start with,” he said after his last test session.
The British driver is proud of the work done by his team to bounce back and is optimistic for the 2023 season. However, he believes that for now, they are still behind Red Bull and Ferrari.
I think everyone was bewildered at the end of last year’s test. None of us knew what was happening with the twist, where it was coming from, we hadn’t seen it in the wind tunnel. We were supposed to bring a 1.5-second improvement, and we couldn’t use it. So, it was tough. I think everyone left with their heads in their hands. But we bounced back and pushed through, and we had an incredible year of pushing and hard work.
This year, we have to work on certain things. It’s not perfect yet, and we’re not yet able to match the Red Bulls or the Ferraris. But, as I said, it’s better. There are things that have changed. The setback is gone, and there are a few elements that have been better so far. Who knows where we’ll be next week. We just have to stay positive, manifest what we want, and keep pushing, he concluded.
