Mercedes Advised to Build an “Aston Martin-Like” Car to Push Lewis Hamilton & George Russell toward Wins

For the longest time, Mercedes was setting the standard in F1 with its challengers but how the mighty have fallen. The Brackley outfit has fallen in the pecking order miserably after the 2022 regulatory changes and failed to even make a mark in 2023. In fact, their customer team, Aston Martin, had a superior car at the start of the previous season and only finished in P5 because they steered on the wrong developmental path. Now heading into 2024, F1 veteran Peter Windsor has advised Mercedes to put their ego aside and give Lewis Hamilton and George Russell an Aston Martin-esque car so they can secure some wins.

There is no doubt Lewis Hamilton and George Russell are two very capable drivers but have hardly been able to showcase their talents all because of the poor state of the Mercedes challenger. This is perhaps what pushed Hamilton to leave Mercedes and join Ferrari. However, speculations aside, if this abysmal form continues even in the new year, Peter Windsor has advised Hamilton and Co. to keep their idealistic outlook aside and give the two Brits a car similar to their customers, Aston Martin.

In his latest YouTube video on the Cameron F1 YouTube channel, Windsor said, “Mercedes have to try and make life as uncomplicated as they possibly can right now. Give the two drivers a nice driveable Aston Martin-type car that’ll take them to the finish hopefully. With two guys like that, they should be on the podium with at least one of them. That’s from a driving perspective.”

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Mercedes has been on the other side of this scenario, where teams copied them for ages and now the tables have completely tuned. However, it’s a one-season problem for Hamilton because a fresh new set of challenges will meet him once he completes his move to the Italian team.

Lewis Hamilton at the risk of losing his footing at Ferrari

Every F1 entity will tell you moving to Ferrari is not the same as moving from one British-based team to another. The lifestyle, the operations, the expectations, everything changes and the Brit will have to adapt to these changes. In fact, some also believe Hamilton will have to embed himself into the Italian culture or he might lose out stamping his authority on the team with Charles Leclerc already a fan favorite. A simple way to start gaining popularity among the Tifosi is to learn to speak Italian.

“In the press conference, Hamilton was asked, ‘What about your Italian?’,” Dekker says. “And then he [Hamilton]: ‘I have never learned a language in my career’. I’m going to advise him to get the hang of that (Italian) because then he will win the hearts of the Tifosi. If he thinks ‘I can manage with English’, then he is missing a very small point. Leclerc is the crown prince, and he must beat him, otherwise he will become Pérez the second.”

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Louis Dekker believes if Hamilton doesn’t make the Tifosi fall in love with him and stamp his authority in the team, he might become an outsider similar to Sergio Perez in Red Bull. A lot of adaptations for the Mercedes man in the upcoming year.