Lewis Hamilton is back for his 11th season with Mercedes since joining the team in 2013. Hamilton was not pleased by his 2022 season, as the Briton finished 6th in the standings without a single win.
The 7-time World Champion struggle to perform with the W13 and lacked pace. And the persistent porpoising of the 2022 car made it worse as it affected the handling of the car and caused back pain to the driver.
However, Mercedes have seemed to have made some progress in this department with the W14. And seems like Hamilton’s biggest issue from 2022 has been solved by the team.
A reminder that Lewis Hamilton heads into the new season with more wins than the rest of the grid combined 😳 🏆 pic.twitter.com/s5KqNzhiye
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) February 22, 2023
But there is still a long way to go for Hamilton to return back to his winning ways. And the Briton has no guarantee that he’d be back on the top step of the podium in 2o23
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Lewis Hamilton claims long season ahead
Lewis Hamilton claims Mercedes have managed to bounce back with the W14. However, Hamilton is not convinced that his 2023 car can still compete for wins. In fact, Lewis believes there will be new problems to deal with.
Hamilton completed 220 laps with the W14 of Mercedes’s 398 laps. And there is some improvement according to Lewis.
Lewis said, “I knew from the moment I drove the car where we were and the challenges that we would be facing.” However the 7-time World Champion feels the team managed to tackle the issue of porpoising.
Tears in my eyes the W13 was a crime against humanity. Look at how much stabler and compliant the 14 is.pic.twitter.com/s1HWlXEBjV
— Sidi Luís (@amal_shura) February 25, 2023
He added, “On a positive note, We do not have a bouncing issue. This is a huge, huge positive because it overshadowed so many issues that we had. So now we can know where the car is lacking.
Lewis feels extremely proud of the team that has worked on the car for months. But the driver acknowledges that there is an imminent gap between them and Red Bull.
Mercedes is nowhere close to Red Bull claims Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton believes that Mercedes have improved their car. But according to Lewis, there is still a gap between Mercedes and the frontrunners Ferrari and Red Bull.
According to him, the team spent a lot of time figuring out the source of bouncing. And in the process missed out on bringing a key upgrade to Bahrain.
W14 from the sky. 😍🖤 pic.twitter.com/86LA0gP4dn
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 1, 2023
Lewis said, “This year we have some things we need to work on. It’s still not perfect, and we are still not able to match the Red Bulls currently, or the Ferraris maybe. But I believe we’re better.”
His teammate George Russell stated Red Bull are “in a league of their own” and considered them as their favourites to win the title. Added to that Toto Wolff believes Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin could also be a major threat.
Lewis says the deficit between Verstappen and him will be visible on Friday as he and the rest of the grid line-up for the Free Practice session of the first race of the season in Bahrain.
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