Burdened Under Immense Pressure From Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton Adamant to Reciprocate “Excellence”

Every seat in Formula 1 comes with an unspoken burden. A certain pressure to perform. Even though Red Bull’s second one is arguably the most pressure-filled hot seat, it doesn’t mean that other drivers have it easy. Least of all seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton. The past couple of years for him and Mercedes have been challenging. Considering the Brackley outfit dominated F1 from 2014 to 2021, it’s under quite a lot of pressure to return to winning ways. And Hamilton—chasing his eighth title—is bearing the brunt of it.

Going through a challenging phase after years of success is almost inevitable in most cases. That’s precisely where Mercedes is at right now. But it’s how Mercedes is trying to regain its lost form that Hamilton admires. 

Lewis Hamilton gives a sneak peek into the happenings at Brackley

As an F1 driver, Hamilton has gotten used to pushing himself to the limit without stepping over. That’s how he’s currently in his 17th season in the sport. It’s why he has no intention of stopping anytime soon. With Mercedes on a resurrection path, the seven-time champion revealed the mindset of everyone working at the factory. In an interview with RaceFans, he said, “You’re always digging as far as you can without depleting yourself, naturally. I think everyone in the team is giving absolutely everything too.”

The Number 44 W14 is Hamilton’s baby, but it’s the engineers and mechanics that work on it throughout the year. While Hamilton gets to critique it, his team puts in their blood, sweat, and tears to make it better. Hamilton continued, “That’s time away from their families, there’s times where these guys are working seven days a week. These guys are flat out, so I’m trying to make sure that I’m matching their excellence.”

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With Mercedes doing all it can to return to the front, Hamilton has realized he needs to put in just as much—if not more—effort as his colleagues. Without reciprocation, the chances of improvement will be next to none. While everyone at Mercedes is pumping on all cylinders, Hamilton & Co. seems to have hit a snag. If you don’t understand your car properly, how are you expected to make it better?

The W14 is still a mystery to Mercedes

During the 2022 season, Mercedes struggled with porpoising almost throughout the year. While that helped curb severe porpoising issues this season, it compromised the W14’s development a little. In 2023, Hamilton & Co. are back to square one, fighting on the back foot, playing catch-up. So far, despite all the improvements made to the W14, the car is still an unknown. Hamilton expressed his concerns before the Singapore GP.

Talking to the media, the seven-time champion said, “I’ve managed to be a lot more consistent this year, I think with the set-ups. But then you look at the last two races [in the Netherlands and Italy]. It started good in FP1 and then it really fell off for the rest of the weekend. So it’s not an easy car to navigate. But it’s something we’re constantly learning about and constantly trying to do better as engineers and as a driver.”

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As Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes continue to learn and put in the effort to improve, when do you think they’ll return to the front?