Lewis Hamilton's fate could be decided by how the Mercedes upgrades work at the 2023 F1 Monaco GP

F1 presenter Simon Lazenby believes that Lewis Hamilton's decision on his Mercedes future depends on how the team develops future upgrade packages for the W14 car.

One of the main reasons why there are several rumors surrounding Hamilton's future is that the Silver Arrows have been unable to give him a decent car that is worth winning races, if not championships.

Hence, Lazenby feels that the future upgrades Mercedes will be bringing to Monaco and other races will be crucial for Lewis Hamilton's future with the team. He also gave an example of how the Mercedes W13 looked brilliant on paper, but when the 2022 F1 season started, the car was simply unable to keep up with other top teams.

"I think a lot of Lewis's decision about his future depends on this upgrade set. I do, I think that when you look back to what happened last year, the hopes for the W13 coming out of the simulator were that it was going to blow the rest of them away. It was going to blow Red Bull away, it was going to blow Ferrari away. And then the correlation between what happened there in reality—well, we all know the story," Lazenby said.

If Mercedes is unable to improve the W14 with future upgrades, Lewis Hamilton may well feel that it is time to move on from the team. Though he himself has declared that he is still loyal to the team, he could feel differently after the current season, especially if the car is still unable to win races and championships.

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Mercedes team boss believes Lewis Hamilton is still motivated to win eighth world title

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff claims that Lewis Hamilton is determined to win his record-breaking eighth world title before retiring. It is bizarre to think that the Briton has not won a race since December 2021. This is because the Silver Arrows have been unable to create a dominant car after 2022 that can compete with Red Bull at the front.

Nonetheless, the Austrian billionaire believes that Hamilton is one of the strongest pillars of his team and will renew his contract with him. He said:

"I have no doubt that he is motivated to achieve this, this is what he loves to do, this is his ability. Personally we have a great relationship with him and within the team he has been one of the strongest pillars of the last ten years, so we are in a really good position."

As of now, Lewis Hamilton's chances of winning yet another world championship look bleak, especially since there are several other younger drivers apart from Max Verstappen who would fight him for it.