Lewis Hamilton Takes Up Taskmaster’s Job to Crack the Whip at Mercedes Amid Toto Wolff’s Absence

When the 2022 ground-effect regulations came into effect, few would have thought Mercedes to fumble it. Eventually, it happened. Lewis Hamilton & Co. lost the advantage of being the leaders of the pack for 8 years. To be honest, it has been horrific as per the high standards of Brackley. So much so that Hamilton at the start of the 2023 season clearly voiced that they are in the wrong development direction. About 6 months post that, Mercedes hasn’t moved up a lot. Thus, the seven-time champion is taking matters into his own hands.

Toto Wolff had promised that they had planned to make some big leaps in performance to catch up with Red Bull. Although, despite introducing their B-spec car through Monaco & Spain, the leaps have been gradual & small. Coming into the Japanese GP, Toto has headed back to Europe, leaving Lewis & Co. to handle things in Suzuka on their own. While this may have been planned, Hamilton cited a proactive move from his end to be the taskmaster for the Silver Arrows.

Lewis Hamilton is keen to push Mercedes forward quicker

Lewis Hamilton is expecting a tougher weekend in Japan than what they experienced a week ago in Singapore. Even in the Marina Bay race, things worked out for Mercedes due to their smart timely strategic call. Thus, on pace, they still seem to struggle owing to some issues with the W14. McLaren seems like a clearly faster car on merit, only 2nd to Red Bull. So, Lewis knows they have a task at hand to retain P2 in the championship.

According to the BBC, Hamilton has stated that he is going to head back to the factory to oversee if the requested changes in the car are being made. Amid Toto’s leave of absence, the Briton is perhaps taking charge as the taskmaster. He stated, “I know what the problem is; it’s just getting the guys to make the changes. I try to argue my point but it is not my job to design the car. I am hopeful they do the job but it is going to take real changes real quick”

The expectations for Japan may have been known at Brackley with so much simulator work going on. Therefore, it may have been a reason behind Wolff taking a break from the Suzuka race. However, the bigger picture is crucial for Mercedes.

Even Hamilton understands they need to focus on both the smaller & bigger picture. With a $11 million prize difference between P2 & P3, they would want to finish 2nd in the constructors. Meanwhile, no one on the German team would want to falter in producing a championship-winning car for the 3rd time in a row in 2024.

Read More: Hamilton Makes Depressing Assessment as Verstappen Leaves Mercedes’ 2024 Plans Exposed

How are Mercedes & Hamilton preparing for catching up in 2024?

Both Toto Wolff & Lewis Hamilton have spoken about their expectations & plans for the 2024 season. The noticeable thing is how they have different opinions about the way to their W15 challenger. Toto who is often the diplomat, straightaway cited that they are not happy with the W14 & would want to “throw this car in the trash, even if it is really fast.” However, Lewis tends to differ on this viewpoint.

Perhaps to cover up for Toto’s extreme statement, the Briton mentioned how they would like to retain the best elements from this W14. He said, “Of course, we will never throw the car away. These cars are still masterpieces.” Even if the W14 is “not the fastest car in the world.”

Usually, it needs to be this consolidated approach for any car to make a leap the next season. Therefore, if Mercedes wants to catch up with Red Bull’s pace, they would like to make the best of both worlds with their 2023 & 2024 cars to produce the rocketship they envision.

Hopefully, they don’t create the beast-like cars of 2020 or 2019. Hamilton would also love to line up in equal machinery besides his rival Max Verstappen on the front row in Bahrain come March 2, 2024.

What do you think, can Hamilton & Mercedes finally come back next year?

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