“Don’t Think It Was Possible for Him to Be at His Best”: Mercedes Accused of Limiting Lewis Hamilton’s Excellence in 2023

2023 was another below-par season for Lewis Hamilton, who failed to win a single race all year. Most of his performances were not noteworthy, with Mercedes realizing their car was not up to the mark. Keeping the performances in mind, Mark Hughes recently claimed Hamilton’s issue this season was that he didn’t have the best resources at hand while appearing as a guest on a podcast by Motor Sport.

“I don’t think it was possible for him to be at his best for many of those races just because of the way the car behaves. But, you give him a little sniff, and there he is on pole position.”

By saying so, Hughes doesn’t claim the W14 was a bad car altogether. Instead, he believes the synergy between the car and the 7-time world champion was off, leading to suboptimal results in the majority of races, especially at the start of the season. Hughes referred to the performances of Max Verstappen in the early races of 2022, where his car was understeering often, and Sergio Perez seemed just as quick as him on any given track.

 

Lewis loves a pole at the Hungaroring! ✨#HungarianGP #F1 @LewisHamilton pic.twitter.com/semH0cSYLt

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 23, 2023

Once Hamilton would find his groove, there was no stopping him, as was evident in Budapest. The Hungarian GP saw Hamilton secure his first and only pole position in qualifying this year. Despite the DSQ, the Austin GP was another example of how good Hamilton can be if everything clicks between him and his car. While Hughes worries little about Hamilton not having the edge anymore, something else is a major cause for concern for him.

Hughes wonders whether Lewis Hamilton would soon run out of patience

It’s been two years since Hamilton last won a race while driving for Mercedes. As such, Hughes’ biggest concern is how long would the Briton wait for the Silver Arrows to provide him with a race-winning car once again. In a subpar season, there were often glimpses of Hamilton losing his cool on the team’s plans, especially given his inputs were not getting much attention.

 

Lewis Hamilton: “He (Christian Horner) did reach out to me earlier this year to meet up“

It was Horner who wanted to talk to Lewis and not the other way around pic.twitter.com/cJeoqwrVJM

— Stefanie (@fastpitstop) November 23, 2023

Amid the frustrations, rumors emerged of Hamilton holding talks with Ferrari over a potential move to the team, adding a layer of tension between the driver and his team. Furthermore, Christian Horner also laid down claims of Hamilton reaching out to him to enquire about a potential partnership between him and Red Bull. However, Hamilton rejected all such claims.

Heading into the 2024 season, Hamilton will step into the first of his two-year contract extension with the Brackley-based team. As such, the Briton remains committed to the team, but there is no telling what the future holds for the 38-year-old.