Mercedes’ Confession About Its Struggles Gives Lewis Hamilton His ‘I Told You So’ Moment; Leaves His Fans Frustrated

Mercedes entered a slump in 2022 following the onset of the ground-effect regulations in F1. Lewis Hamilton, who grew accustomed to fighting for Championship wins, was left languishing in the midfield as a result. But recently, the team started winning again and Technical Director James Allison highlights what they shouldn’t have done these last two years. As it turns out, Hamilton was insisting on the same all this while.

“But we, to a large extent, carried on with that way of working together under different circumstances and were insufficiently self-critical to recognise that there were weaknesses inherent in that approach in the new world that didn’t matter in the old. We definitely paid a price for that,” said Allison as per Autosport.

Hamilton, as seen in the latest season of Drive to Survive, kept talking about the Mercedes car being draggy. He complained about the same in 2022 and 2023, pleading for the team to make fundamental changes.

Mercedes took too long to realise past F1 approaches didn’t work

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— Motorsport Week (@MotorsportWeek) July 16, 2024

“Look, we have to make these changes. Otherwise, this is the trajectory we’re on, and this is where we’re gonna end up,” said Hamilton while revealing what he told his team.

Unfortunately for him, they didn’t listen. Hamilton and his teammate George Russell struggled and the Brackley-based team fell from grace.

Fast forward to 2024 and Allison admits that Mercedes should have been more self-critical. While fans of the team and Hamilton are happy that they realized this at long last, some cannot help but look back on Hamilton’s repeated pleas.

Hamilton fans bring up his old request

Hamilton, being one of the most experienced drivers in F1, had an idea of how to make the Mercedes cars better. However, his team reportedly refused to take his input into consideration and Hamilton embarked on a 945-day winless streak, which got broken at the British GP two weeks ago.

But now that Allison repeats what Hamilton had been saying for so long, fans are discontent. Hamilton presumably, spent two whole seasons driving for a team that couldn’t help him win.

Allison saying this now but I’m sure we have heard of this somewhere before.

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— V F1 (@swiftsambi) July 16, 2024

With a better car, the 39-year-old could have racked up more race wins, and maybe even have an eighth Championship under his belt. More importantly, had Mercedes listened to Hamilton, the Briton would still be a part of the team’s future.

Hamilton will move to Ferrari in 2025, leaving Mercedes scrambling for a replacement.