“We Screwed Up”: Mercedes Absolve Lewis Hamilton of Any Guilt in Recent Statement

Following the introduction of new regulations in 2022, Mercedes started struggling to compete for wins. Even though 2023 was a bit better, the 2022 F1 season saw them lose their mind and sit hopelessly after failing with their development. Lewis Hamilton, seven-time world champion, failed to win a single race over the course of the last two years.

The Silver Arrows brought a radical zero sidepod concept, which did more harm than good. Even though it won the team their only race in two years, following the philosophy for one more year sent Toto Wolff’s team further behind.

The Brackley-based team failed to win a race in 2023 and barely managed to hold on to P2 in the Constructors’ championship. However, their margin of defeat was huge as Red Bull’s points tally was more than double that of Mercedes.

Now, James Allison,’ Mercedes’ technical director has come up to share how the poor W13 and its successor the W14 impacted Lewis Hamilton’s performance. They not only failed to provide Hamilton a chance to fight at the front but also hampered his chance to contest for the eighth world championship.

Allison added how the team is responsible for making Hamilton appear slower than usual. On this, he said at The Controls Podcast, “If our car isn’t quick enough, it’s not because we’re having an off day… It’s because we screwed up.”

Lewis Hamilton shared frustration at Mercedes after required rectifications weren’t done

The 2023 F1 season was equally poor for Hamilton. This was the second year where the seven-time world champion couldn’t claim a win. Now, he has come forward to share the frustrations of his team regarding rectifications.

From the onset of Bahrain testing, Hamilton was not happy with the set-up of the car. This led him to ask for internal developments of the W14. However, by the end of the year, he found that most of them weren’t done.

Speaking about this, Hamilton said to the BBC, “I’m sure there were frustrations, because I had asked for certain changes, and they weren’t done. No one knew exactly what the problem was. No one knew how to fix it.”

Nevertheless, the British driver remained hopeful and slowly steered his team to a P2 finish in the Constructors’ championship despite all the odds and self-doubts. Even after the required rectifications by Lewis Lewis Hamilton were not met by Mercedes.