Lewis Hamilton & Co.’s $11,000,000 Nightmare Becomes a Reality After Mike Elliott’s “Difficult” Announcement

Remember how Lewis Hamilton complained about the team not listening to him when he told them what the problem was with the zeropod concept? While the recent changes have made it better, Mike Elliott’s difficult announcement suggests it’s too late to solve that problem until next year. As a result, the $11,000,000 nightmare seems ever closer to becoming a reality. What did Mike Elliott announce?

Red Bull have been the dominant force this season and are the favorites to win both championships. Lewis Hamilton and Co. realize this as Lewis Hamilton recently suggested that the team wants to get closer to Red Bull in the second and that the goal is to ensure a second-place finish in the standing. However, McLaren with the new upgrades looks super competitive. Mercedes don’t want anything below P2 in constructors with $11 Million to play for.

The championship prize money difference between 2nd and 3rd is the $11 million we’re talking about. Mercedes brought major upgrades to their car in Monaco which revamped the design of the W14 as they got rid of the zeropods. However, there’s only so much that a team can do with the budget cap in terms of upgrades. With limited resources, both financial and in terms of time, Mike Elliott explains that it is difficult to make major changes like a new chassis and gearbox mid-season.

According to Motorsport-total.com, Mike Elliott said, “It’s always difficult to make big changes, for example to the chassis and the gearbox, the big structural parts of the car. You can do something like that much easier in winter.” [translated via Google] For the same reason, Mercedes will be focusing on minor changes for the remainder of the 2023 season.

Read More: Mercedes’ Bizarre Excuse to Lewis Hamilton’s Vehement “Porpoising” Complaints Leaves Ex-Ferrari Boss Worried

Lewis Hamilton has already explained the problems that he had with the W14’s chassis. Mike Elliott’s statement further confirms that those problems will only be solved for the next season with a new chassis. What is Lewis Hamilton’s problem though?

Lewis Hamilton is not comfortable with W14’s seating position

An F1 car is only half of what is required to win a championship. The other half is the driver. The driver must feel comfortable with the car. So much so that it should almost feel like an extension of his body. Lewis Hamilton explained how the seating position in the W14 is way forward and that it feels like he’s sitting on the front wheels. As a result, he’s not able to understand what the car is communicating to him. 

According to Skysports.com, Lewis Hamilton said, “When you’re driving, you feel like you’re sitting on the front wheels which is one of the worst feelings to feel when you’re driving a car.” He further added “So, what that does is it just really changes the attitude of the car and how you perceive its movement. And it makes it harder to predict, compared to when you’re further back and you’re sitting closer, more center. It’s just something I’ve really struggled with.”

What do you think? Will Mercedes be able to finish 2nd in the constructors?

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