Lewis Hamilton’s 17-Month Drought Decoded as F1 Journo Slams Mercedes With Reasoning for Its Downfall: “Haven’t Been Able to Answer…”

Fernando Alonso has been winless for over a decade and might only now get somewhat of a half-decent chance at a win this season. Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, is already getting impatient only 17 months into his drought. As Hamilton pushes the team, an F1 Journalist has slammed Mercedes, revealing the reason for the downfall. Let’s see what the reason was.

Mercedes went into the 2022 season, wanting to take revenge for the 2021 robbery. While the team and drivers were motivated to do so, the car was not so much. The W13 was more like a ride from the amusement park, just a little harsher. The porpoising plagued the whole 2022 season, forcing Mercedes to ride the car higher, causing them to lose a ton of downforce. While porpoising was taken care of, the pace deficit carried forward into 2023. As a result, Lewis Hamilton hasn’t won a single race in 17 months, let alone a challenge for the championship. 

Mercedes are coming up with new major upgrades which are said to have set a positive trajectory. Peter Windsor, however, suggested that Mercedes would’ve already solved the problem if they knew the answer. The team hasn’t been able to figure out the problem for the last 18 months now as they cannot replicate the performance number promised by the CFD on the track. Mercedes’ arrogance because of the dominance is now biting them and they refused to look elsewhere. 

According to F1maximaal.nl, Peter Windsor during a live stream on his YouTube channel said, “If Mercedes knew the answer, they would fix it. It’s the question that people at Mercedes themselves haven’t been able to answer for eighteen months. Mercedes, along with several other teams, has never been able to replicate that predicted in the wind tunnel or via CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics, ed)”

Talking about Mercedes’s arrogance caused by their dominance, he added, “Because of their success, they probably thought they could, that they could move mountains. They didn’t have to go outside their own framework to know how to do it. They paid the price for that and still pay the price.”

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The situation doesn’t seem to get any better, as the Imola GP cancellation delayed the major upgrade package. However, Mercedes explained how the upgrades will not suddenly increase the pace but is a step in the right direction for the team. 

Lewis Hamilton on the upgrades being a step in the right direction. 

Toto Wolff has already explained that whilst the upgrades are showing a positive trajectory, the team does not expect an immediate increase in pace. Lewis Hamilton added to that by suggesting how the upgrades are still unknown. But for sure, it’s not going to be a sudden 1-second improvement. However, it is a step in the right direction and hopes for the team to progress.

According to PlanetF1, Lewis Hamilton told Sky Sports, “Well, it’s a bit of an unknown. It’s not like I have a one-second upgrade coming, which is what I need. But it’s something. It’s a step in the right direction, hopefully, for us to really be able to progress.”

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What do you make of Peter Windsor’s comments?