Since the start of the 2022 season, Mercedes’ struggles have only gone up, especially with Lewis Hamilton. The Briton hadn’t won a race for 945 days and was feeling increasingly worse while driving the car. However, the 2024 British GP changed it all and handed Hamilton his 104th Grand Prix win. It was a huge burden off of Mercedes’ shoulders, and the team is happy to have gone out on a high with the Briton in his final home Grand Prix for them.
Speaking in the Mercedes‘ British GP Debrief video on YouTube, Andrew Shovlin detailed how the win was a “massively important” result. Furthermore, he revealed that it was one of the team’s goals this season to help the seven-time champion win at least one race before he leaves.
“We said at the start of this year we were determined to go out on a high with Lewis [Hamilton].”
Hamilton has been with Mercedes for over a decade and played a crucial role in the team winning eight constructors’ titles on the trot. Hence, to not have him win races more consistently was upsetting to the team. However, Shovlin claimed that it was still “brilliant” to see the Brit take home the winner’s trophy in Silverstone.
104 pic.twitter.com/EtzzKzQEON
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) July 22, 2023
Furthermore, the Mercedes trackside engineering director revealed that the Silver Arrows will soon be bringing more performance upgrades to the W15. Thus, there is still hope for Hamilton to win more races before he leaves for Maranello. But for now, the 39-year-old remains grateful to have secured his 104th race win.
Hamilton grateful to win after a 945-day wait
The changeable conditions race in Silverstone saw Hamilton drive to an emotional race win in front of hundreds of thousands of fans, quite similar to the 2008 British GP. The win was made more special with the presence of several family members of the Hamilton household, including father Anthony Hamilton and mother Carmen Larbalestier.
It’s been a crazy few days which have been filled with a whole range of emotions.
But as you all now know, after an incredible 11 years at Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, the time has come for me to start a new chapter in my life and I will be joining Scuderia Ferrari in 2025.
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) February 3, 2024
Speaking about the feat, the 39-year-old revealed that there were times when he felt like another win would never come his way. Thus, to have the feeling again brought forth unprecedented emotions within Hamilton. Hence, the Mercedes driver admitted, “It’s a really, really great feeling, and I’m very, very grateful for it.”
The British driver also revealed that there were times when he battled mental health issues because of Mercedes’ downfall. However, all those feelings are now in the past, as the W15 is performing much better given it handed Hamilton a race win on merit.
