Even though Lewis Hamilton’s Drivers’ Championship standings improved in 2023, his struggles did not. The seven-time world champion found himself struggling throughout the season and in doing so, arrived at a certain point where he began to have doubts about himself.
Hamilton, speaking about this, opened up with the BBC, “When you have difficult seasons like this, there are always going to be moments when you’re like: ‘Is it me, or is it the car? Do you still have it? Has it gone?’”
Following this, he added that whenever things go right, from the car to the spark, to confidence, everything seems jovial and vice versa. Whoever denies this, surely lies, and believes the Mercedes ace. Admittedly, Hamilton often faced retirement questions as he struggled in recent times. However, his stance for the team to rebuild and work around it hasn’t changed.
2023 marked the second year where Toto Wolff’s team failed to provide Hamilton with a championship-worthy car. Even though W14 was regarded to be a better car than its predecessor W13, for the British driver, it was equally bad and disappointing. So much so that Hamilton wanted to part ways with the car as soon as possible.
How did Hamilton’s last two years go by?
After losing the title on the very last lap in the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, Lewis Hamilton promised to make a mega return and challenge Max Verstappen for the title. However, things did not look favorable for the seven-time world champion who was far away from being in a championship-worthy car.
Mercedes started the year on a pathetic note but found their footing somehow. They were still nowhere close to Ferrari and Red Bull upfront. Hamilton’s year went down further after newbie George Russell in the team was able to beat the veteran driver.
Russell did an impeccable job right in his first year in the team and due to this, Hamilton received numerous criticism. Furthermore, Russell was the only race-winning driver for Mercedes last year after he won the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Nevertheless, Lewis Hamilton is still hopeful about his 2024 chances despite the tough two years. He believes that the team would do the needful to make all the necessary rectifications and give him a chance to compete for the much coveted eighth world championship.
