Lewis Hamilton ready 'to call in sick' to avoid driving Mercedes W13 again

Lewis Hamilton is not looking forward to stepping into the Mercedes W13 again and plans to skip the tyre test on Tuesday.

It's a scheduled tyre test for all the teams where Pirelli will test the 2023 season tyres. Talking to PlanetF1 after the Abu Dhabi GP, Hamilton joked that he's looking to miss the tyre test. He said:

"I might have to call in sick, my back or something.”

When asked if the 2022 season was the toughest of his career, Hamilton said that 2011 was probably tougher. He said:

"No. I think 2011 was probably the hardest year I have had, just in terms of life. This year is probably not the greatest, up there with the top three of the worst seasons but I think it is a much stronger year in terms of myself, how I have worked with the team and how we have all stayed united. I think there have been lots of plusses.”

The seven-time world champion added that Mercedes started the season with a car they did not want and ended with one they did not like. He said:

“Ultimately, I think we started with a car we didn’t want, and we finished with a car we didn’t want. But we were basically stuck with it, and we just kept trundling away, kept working away at improving it, but the fundamentals have still been there all the way to the end, as you saw this weekend.”

Looking back at the race of the season, Hamilton felt that it was a microcosm of how the season has been for the team. He said:

"This last race was just a good reminder of the whole year, and I'm glad it's over and that we can now look forward to next year. I had a strong start, but the car floor took a big hit during the contact with Carlos, and everything else unfolded from there."

He continued:

"When it happens, you just lose a little bit of performance, but the balance basically shifts forwards. It's almost like you have loads of front wing, and I had to wait for the stop to take out front wing - which did improve the balance."

Hamilton endured the first winless season of his F1 career, failing to end the race in Abu Dhabi because of hydraulic failure.

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"We need to show our strength across this winter and into next season" - Lewis Hamilton bullish about 2023 season

Lewis Hamilton hopes that Mercedes' struggles in 2022 would propel them to the front of the grid next season. He said:

"We had a difficult car all weekend and unfortunately, I had to retire right before the race finish because we lost hydraulic pressure. We will have the next couple of weeks at the factory, where we will work hard to make sure we can come back stronger next year so we will focus on that."

He added:

"I hope that the struggle this year will provide us with the strength and the tools to fight for more victories in the future - the team in Brackley and Brixworth deserve it, given how hard they've worked all year. So, we continue to get up and try. We need to show our strength across this winter and into next season."

It marked the first time in his F1 career that Hamilton failed to register a win or a pole. The Mercedes driver will hope to fare better next season.