Lewis Hamilton has recently unleashed his dejection following his underperformance at Hungaroring. The Mercedes star said he feels like a “broken record” that plays repeatedly and asks his team to improve to be the best.
For a long time, Hamilton has been critical of the new Mercedes challenger following the new regulations. After having an underwhelming 2022 F1 season, the seven-time world champion wanted the team to take drastic steps towards development.
However, after the W-14 came out, Hamilton was still unhappy about it. He repeatedly said that the car was hard to drive, and he felt disconnected from the car. At some point, he even wanted the Silver Arrows to go the Red Bull way to achieve success.
Hamilton is ‘tired’ of Mercedes’s complaints
Even though Mercedes were expected to be better than before, the recent performance comparison with Red Bull or McLaren at the Hungarian GP made Hamilton change his mind.
And now, he feels that he is like an old record who constantly pushes his team to bring the maximum and head in the right direction. According to deni on Twitter, the 38-year-old said, “I just gotta keep telling the guys we need to go that direction [with concept and development], and I’d love to see that either this year or next year’s car.”
Hard battles in the Hungarian heat brings us another haul of points, and a spectacular recovery drive from George 👏#OutRaceYourself #PETRONASMotorsports #MercedesAMGF1 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/986WCCGlYZ
— PETRONAS Motorsports (@PET_Motorsports) July 23, 2023
Admittedly, the Brackley-based team took cognizance of Hamilton’s words and progressed in the right direction. From struggling in P3 at the start, the Silver Arrows are now in a strong P2 position.
Furthermore, they have made drastic improvements to their side pods and floor by eliminating their so-called zero side pods. But the Hungaroring performance showed they still need magnanimous growth to hunt Red Bull down.
What made Hamilton feel like a broken record?
Experts believe that the dip in performance of the W-14 was what led Lewis Hamilton to be vocal about the development push. Despite starting the race in pole position, the British driver had to finish the race in P4.
He was inferior to Max Verstappen’s pace and a bit away from matching Lando Norris. All in all, he wants his team to match the MCL60s and, subsequently, the RB-19s.
The rapid growth from McLaren recently instilled hope in the Briton’s mind as he believes in his team. He feels Mercedes is capable of doing what the Papayas have done. But in the end, he would like the improvements to be visible on the track, either this year or in 2024.