Lewis Hamilton expressed his frustrations at the beginning of the season, saying that the team failed to pay attention to him over the winter break.
The seven-time world champion’s season in 2023 has already been far better than it was in 2022, a year in which George Russell beat the seven-time World Champion in the Drivers’ Championship.
The world could see Hamilton’s dissatisfaction with the W13, which had somewhat carried over into the beginning of this season. For the first part of 2023, Mercedes decided to persist with the “zero sidepod” idea before dropping it just before the Monaco Grand Prix.
Over the course of the winter break, the Silver Arrows made little progress which raised the possibility that Hamilton would leave the team if Mercedes suffered a setback.
Hamilton will undoubtedly sign a contract extension with Mercedes, according to rumours that the two parties are prepared to sign it. Since the design of the car was revised, he has undoubtedly appeared happier and faster. The W14 also appears to have changed significantly from the season-opener in Bahrain.
The main difference is that Mercedes now has wide sidepods after taking several design cues from Red Bull’s RB19.
Mercedes is now on the correct track for the very first time since the new aerodynamic regulations took effect thanks to the new concept, which has so far performed significantly better than the previous design.
Hamilton has closed the distance to third in the Drivers’ Championship by placing fourth and second after the new concept was implemented.
The Mercedes driver has admitted that the car initially felt like a “copy of last year’s car,” which is an interesting indication of how Mercedes has changed without his “decision.”
“These are ideas from the past year, with the team and George Russell we have been constantly working on questions like ‘why does this look like this’ and ‘have we tried this yet’,” Hamilton told reporters.
“Now we have wider sidepods, a bit towards Red Bull’s, and I can say it wasn’t my decision to go this way.
“When we put the car on the track for the first time this year it was almost a copy of last year’s car, only it didn’t bounce. A bit like a prettier sister, but really with similar characteristics.”
