Lewis Hamilton knows Mercedes has a mountain to climb in F1 2023, but is satisfied with no bouncing and being in better place than 2022.
For seven-time champion Hamilton, he is entering season number 17 in F1. Last season was challenging for him and was his first ever winless campaign. On the back of three day testing where Mercedes seemed 50-50 on the scene, the Brit stressed on the hard work that the team has done since 2022 and in the winter.
Even though pace wise Mercedes didn’t look beaters, the reliability was good apart from the one stop. “It has been an interesting few days,” said Hamilton to TV media. “One of which is never easy, its been a lot of discovery. What I have been most impressed with is…this is my 11th year with the team, everyone has turned up with the same mentality, working hard, no one has been complacent.
“We realise that we have a mountain to climb and no one is fussed. Everyone has just kept their heads down, everyone in the garage, everyone back home in the factory will be churning through all this data and pushing. Reliability has generally been good, obviously we had a stop on Day 2, but generally has been relatively good.
“At the end just there it is always nice when the track gets a bit cooler and you put on the softer tyres and see the steps between them all. We are not quite where we want to be but it is a good platform to start from,” summed up Hamilton. Lack of straight-line speed for Mercedes through much of the 2022 campaign was a concern for them and it may be there once more but was not the focal problem of last season.
“It was a big concern last year and it is this year but the bouncing has gone so…I mean sometimes it occurs a little bit but most of the time it is not there,” continued Hamilton. “So it is a much more beautiful world to be in when it is not bouncing and you can see the road ahead and it is better for the body but we do have some pace to pick up in the straight-line.”
Nonetheless, Mercedes and Hamilton himself seem to be in a better place than 12 months. They are not fully at the sharp end just yet but compared to 2022, they certainly have a lot more to smile about. He recalls how it feels much better than last year when everyone for the first time in many years had to face lack of pace and issues.
“I just think everyone was distraught after the first test last year,” recalled Hamilton. “None of us knew about the bouncing, where it came from, we had not seen it in the wind tunnel, we meant to bring 1.5 seconds upgrade and could not use it so that was difficult and everyone left here with their head in their hands but we pushed through it and had an amazing year of hustling and everyone grafting.
“This year we have some things to work on and its still not perfect and we are still not able to match the Red Bulls currently or the Ferrari’s maybe but as I said it is better. The bouncing has gone and there are a couple of elements which are better, who knows where we will be next week, we just need to remain positive, just got to manifest what we have and continue to push. That is what we look for,” summed up Hamilton.
Here’s what drivers said after Day 1
Here’s what drivers said after Day 2
Here’s what drivers said after Day 3
Here’s Toto Wolff on W14 and more
Here’s Mick Schumacher on his role and drive
Here’s Lewis Hamilton, Toto Wolff on the contract
Here’s Mercedes pair on W14 run
