Lewis Hamilton’s once strong relationship with Mercedes and its team principal Toto Wolff recently seems to have weakened recently. Most of this seems to be the case as the Silver Arrows have failed to produce a quick car in recent seasons.
Early on in this season, Hamilton also directly targeted the team for not listening to his concerns about the car. The 38-year-old explained how if only the team had listened to him, they would have been facing much fewer issues than they are currently facing.
Since Hamilton and Wolff’s relationship recently has seemingly worsened, it begs the question of what was different before. And that is the absence of three-time world champion Niki Lauda. It is believed that Lauda would have listened to Hamilton’s concerns and would create an environment comfortable enough for everyone to have trust.
How has Lauda’s absence affected Hamilton and Wolff’s relationship?
According to Business F1, Niki Lauda would have identified Mercedes’ concerns well in advance and would have never let there be a point from which they would have needed to make substantial improvements to the car. The report adds the three-time world champion would have also taken Lewis Hamilton‘s concerns seriously.
As per the report, the concern now at Mercedes for Hamilton is with the team management that is currently employed. The 38-year-old does not trust Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff that the right people are in the right positions to improve the car.
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes fought back strongly in Australia
Even though Mercedes has had a below-par start to the season, the Australian Grand Prix is likely to provide them with some sort of optimism for the 2023 season. The Silver Arrows were running 1-2 at one point in the race before George Russell retired due to a rare reliability concern.
Even after Russell retired, Lewis Hamilton drove an incredibly strong race and finished an outstanding second. The 38-year-old finished just behind race winner Max Verstappen and crucially ahead of the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.
Consequently of his podium finish, Hamilton increased his points tally in the championship to 38. He is now seven points behind third-placed Fernando Alonso and 31 points behind championship leader Max Verstappen.
Considering how the race in Australia panned out for Mercedes, they showed significant signs of improvement and established themselves as the second-fastest car on the grid. The Silver Arrows will now hope to carry on this momentum in the next race in Baku, which takes place from April 28 to 30.
