hamilton he has won at least one Formula 1 grand prix every year since he made his debut in 2007. That shows that, regardless of his talent, has always had a capable car of that throughout his professional career. The Mercedes W13 is not yet displayed as suchdespite having been on the podium twice in 2022 (Lewis in Bahrain and Russell in Australia). Ferrari is in another league, Red Bull is significantly superior and the car does not convince engineers or drivers.
Does Hamilton see himself capable of fighting for the eighth title this season? “I prefer to be optimistic, there are 20 races left and if you are realistic, seeing how this sport works and everyone develops, the ‘top’ teams advance at a similar rate. Will it happen with these cars too? Who knows, but I hope we get to the fight soon. If everyone improves, Red Bull will make a similar leap as well and it won’t be easy. The handicap is quite big now, but there is a lot left.” In any case, the 37-year-old Englishman hurries to the factory: “There will be a lot of calls and a lot of work. Improvements are needed, we need everyone to do it, we will not leave anything behind and we must make sure that our hunger is still there. There will be a lot of ‘zooms’ with the wind tunnel people, so they can go through every area where performance can be gained. We need it now, not in three races. I’ll be in the simulator”.
“There’s a gremlin in the car”
Toto Wolff, director of competition for Mercedes, left Australia recognizing that they walk “with the left foot”. “There’s a gremlin in the car, or several, and we haven’t found it yet. But this is physics, not mysticism,” she illustrates. The Austrian leader still gives Mercedes a 40% chance of fighting for the World Cup, although that would mean resolving from Ímola, with the improvements that are on the way, both the excess of ‘porpoising’ and the lack of performance. “Solve the ‘bouncing’ will not find a second of miracle, you have to go for a lot of small gains and even so I am optimistic, I think we will end up getting there. My horizon is not one race or one year, but ten years, I want to look back and see a competitive team, there will be more difficult years and this is definitely one of them.”