James Allison, Mercedes’ technical director recently came out to support Lewis Hamilton after the seven-time world champion finished the year without a race win. Allison admits that none of it was Hamilton’s fault. Instead, the W14 and its technical inferiority is what caused this.
Allison, said on the The Controls Podcast, “A weapon that we know that a car that is reliable and decently quick, we absolutely know he [Lewis Hamilton will get the job done for us.”
Couldn’t have done it without you this season, LH ❤️ pic.twitter.com/VKPoHpK6tf
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) November 26, 2023
With this, he added that Hamilton‘s bad days were because of the W14. If the car is not quick enough, Hamilton is not quick enough either. This is because the seven-time world champion doesn’t have an off day and he’s most certainly to excel under any situation with the right car.
Despite the relatively poor car, the Briton managed to drag the Silver Arrows to P2 in the Constructors’ championship. However, there was a time when the 38-year-old got frustrated at his team because his requirements were not met in Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton’ s frustration towards W14 and more
After the pre-season testing’s culmination ahead of the campaign, Lewis Hamilton asked Mercedes to make major rectifications to the W14. However, over the course of the season they were not made, which deeply frustrated the Stevenage-born.
Notably, it wasn’t casualness within the team that hindered the rectification. The main cause was that nobody knew what to rectify, and most importantly how to rectify.
Thanks for all the love this season. Til next year ~ pic.twitter.com/Ijg851dfzg
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) November 27, 2023
The Silver Arrows almost lost their P2 spot to Ferrari in the end of the season. Still, George Russell’s final race heroics helped them hold on to second place. With the season now over, Mercedes’ sights are firmly set for 2024 now.
In the upcoming season, Toto Wolff’s team is looking to arrive with a new concept and lots of structural changes within the car. Wolff wants these changes to show results on the track from the very get go, because he too, was incredibly frustrated with the mechanical side of things this year.
