"I’ve been asking for it for over a year" - Lewis Hamilton on the 'fundamental changes' he has been demanding from Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton claims that Mercedes has looked into the "fundamental changes" he suggested to be made on the W13.

The Briton believes that the team has made progress in terms of developing its car concept for the future by taking his suggestions.

Hamilton told the on-site media in Austria:

“Ultimately, there are fundamental changes that have to change for next year. And I’ve been asking for it for over a year. So, I expect to have that in future, which I think will definitely help. But it’s not only that, it’s the rear end, and how it rotates through a corner. But we’re working on that, and the team are very, very focused on that.

"I think we’ve got some progress coming over the coming months, which will help also help rectify that. So I’m excited.”

The seven-time world champion Mercedes will be making several changes to the W13 based on his suggestions to improve its performance.

The Austrian GP weekend did not suit the team's car, with Mercedes' best weekends being the Spanish GP and the Canadian GP. The Mercedes cars were beaten by both their customer teams, McLaren and Aston Martin, in Spielberg.

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Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes' upgrades will help the team perform better

Lewis Hamilton

With the 2022 season being riddled with bouncing issues for Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton believes the team has been able to make more progress with the W13 this year. The 38-year-old feels Mercedes has a better baseline to develop its car this year.

Looking forward to the improvements on his car, the Briton feels the rest of the season will witness an upward trend for their team.

Hamilton added:

“Yeah, finally! We brought a lot of upgrades last year, and we did make some progress. But we found with this generation of car, adding performance was not easy. When you added performance in the wind tunnel, it looked like it was real performance. But then you put them on the car, and the car would bounce more.

"And so finally this year, we’re starting to make changes to the car that actually do improve the car, and don’t add more bouncing. We’ve taken a step in the right direction. But I don’t think we’ve completely got to where we are going in terms of that direction. I think we’re still turning. But we’ve got progress, real, real progress that’s coming over the next coming months, which is really exciting to see."

He continued:

"So yeah, I can’t wait. And just in terms of being in the car, I’m starting to feel more confident in it. So finally, feeling more like a race car.”

With his last win having come in Brazil in 2021, Lewis Hamilton has been unable to end the winless streak. With a dominant Red Bull that has won nine out of nine races so far in the season, the British legend could face another season without a win.

Currently, Mercedes is struggling to beat its customer team Aston Martin who trails them very closely. After a sleuth of penalties in the Austrian GP, Hamilton finished eighth in the race as he was demoted with a 10-second time penalty for violating track limits.