Hamilton gets rid of ‘nightmare’ car and counts the days until he is reborn in F1 – 11/26/2023 – Sport

Lewis Hamilton, 38, spent much of the 2023 F1 season frustrated. It only took a few races for him to realize that he would have a year as difficult as the one he experienced in 2022, when, for the first time in his career, he ended a championship without any victories.

In August, after a break in the middle of the calendar, about to compete in the Dutch GP, the Englishman already predicted that no team on the grid would be able to challenge Red Bull’s dominance, especially Max Verstappen. “They have a very big margin.”

Was he right. This Sunday (26), the Dutchman won his 19th victory of the year in Abu Dhabi, the seventh in a row, at the end of the season in which he achieved his third title with five races to spare.

Sergio Pérez, also from Red Bull, won two races, and Carlos Sainz, from Ferrari, was the only one who managed to prevent absolute dominance by the Austrian team, with a victory in the Singapore GP.

For the second consecutive year without reaching the highest place on the podium, Hamilton had to settle for third place in the Drivers’ World Championship, a position that represents an improvement compared to 2022, when he had his worst final classification, with a sixth place. But below what a seven-time champion wants.

The Englishman admitted that he is “counting the days” until he no longer needs to drive the W14, the 2023 version of the Mercedes car, which underwent transformations throughout the year until leaving behind the concept of “zero sidepods”, as they became known. the sides of Hamilton and Russell’s cars because they are very narrow, with the edges of the floor protruding.

The W14 presented handling and balance inconsistencies that affected the performance of the English driver duo, especially in high-speed corners. During a training session before the Mexican GP, ​​for example, Hamilton even said that the car was “a nightmare to drive”.

Attacking these weaknesses is the main focus in the development of the German team’s 2024 model. “We are changing the car considerably for next year,” explained Mercedes engineering director Adrew Shovlin. “Whether or not we can solve all the problems we have will depend on the delivery of a series of projects.”

Hamilton is more pessimistic. For him, until the next F1 regulation change, scheduled for 2026, Red Bull will continue to be ahead of the other teams. “It will be very difficult to reach them before then”, he bets.

Mercedes, however, expects an improvement next year, especially because the Englishman has a contract with the team until 2025, an extension agreed at the beginning of this year after long negotiations.

Toto Wolff, team boss, has stated several times that Hamilton deserves to once again have a car with which he can fight for his eighth title.

With this year’s car, the best results the Englishman achieved was coming in second place in three races (Australia, Spain and Mexico).

The biggest winner in the category’s history, with 103 victories, he finished this Sunday’s Abu Dhabi GP in just ninth place, a result that, together with Russell’s third place, guaranteed Mercedes the runner-up constructors’ championship, three points ahead. from Ferrari, which had Leclerc second in Abu Dhabi.

The lack of good results reignited rumors that Hamilton could leave Mercedes. Over the weekend, Red Bull boss Christian Horner stated that people close to the driver had contacted the Austrian team to inquire about a vacancy for the Englishman. To which he reportedly replied that he doesn’t see “Max and Lewis working together”.

Hamilton, however, tried to deny any interest. “I don’t know where that story came from. It actually came from Christian [Horner]but I don’t understand what he’s saying because nobody on my team spoke to him, I haven’t spoken to Christian in years,” he said.

Wolff revealed that it was Lewis’ father, Anthony Hamilton, who approached Red Bull. The Mercedes boss, however, recalled that Anthony no longer participates in decisions about his son’s future.

“I believe Anthony is not involved [na equipe de Hamilton] since 2010. We also wonder why a story like that comes up in the last race”, said the director.

Check out the final standings of the season

1 – Max Verstappen (HOL – Red Bull) 575 points
2 – Sergio Pérez (MEX – Red Bull) 285
3 – Lewis Hamilton (GBR – Mercedes) 234
4 – Fernando Alonso (ESP – Aston Martin) 206
5 – Charles Leclerc (MON – Ferrari) 206
6 – Lando Norris (GBR – McLaren) 205
7 – Carlos Sainz (ESP – Ferrari) 200
8 – George Russell (GBR – Mercedes) 175
9 – Oscar Piastri (AUS – McLaren) 97
10 – Lance Stroll (CAN – Aston Martin) 74
11 – Pierre Gasly (FRA – Alpine) 62
12 – Esteban Ocon (FRA – Alpine) 58
13 – Alexander Albon (TAI – Williams) 27
14 – Yuki Tsunoda (JAP – AlphaTauri) 17
15 – Valtteri Bottas (FIN – Alfa Romeo) 10
16 – Nico Hulkenberg (ALE – Haas) 9
17 – Daniel Ricciardo (AUS – AlphaTauri) 6
18 – Guanyu Zhou (CHN – Alfa Romeo) 6
19 – Kevin Magnussen (DIN – Haas) 3
20 – Liam Lawson (NZL – AlphaTauri) 2
21 – Logan Sargeant (USA – Williams) 1
22 – Nyck de Vries (HOL – AlphaTauri) 0