Lewis Hamilton urges Mercedes F1 to follow rivals Red Bull: “I keep telling the team that we need to go in that direction”

After witnessing yet another Max Verstappen-Red Bull masterclass in Hungary, Lewis Hamilton wants Mercedes to follow their rival's development direction. Hamilton made the comments after Verstappen dominated in Budapest to take a record 12th victory for the team.

Hamilton earlier urged his team to follow Red Bull and switch focus to 2024 and is now asking his teammates to copy some aspects from the RB19. The seven-time world champion admitted that he sounded like a "broken record" as had earlier made similar comments.

"We generally have a bigger wing than some of the others, like the Red Bulls for example, but they seem to have more downforce from their floor," he told Sky Sports F1. "We have a lot of work to do. I am like a broken record."

"I’ve just gotta keep telling the guys ‘we need to go in that direction’. I would like to see that either with this year’s car or next year," Hamilton added.

After being humbled by the RB19 early in the season, Mercedes finally accepted the harsh truth that their design philosophy wasn't competitive. The W14 underwent a major overhaul with the team introducing wider sidepods and accompanying changes in the Monaco GP.

Despite the changes, the W14 has retained some of its characteristic features like the bigger rear wing. This bigger wing does generate extra downforce but produces drag in the straights affecting their top speed. Hence Lewis Hamilton wants the team to copy the concept of Red Bull's floor which efficiently produces more downforce.

The Brit expects the changes this year or in the 2025 challenger as he hopes the Silver Arrows to catch up with Red Bull. Aston Martin and lately McLaren have made huge leaps by simply following the development direction of the quickest car. Thus Hamilton wants his team to do the same.

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Lewis Hamilton terms his Hungarian GP start as one of his worst

Lewis Hamilton at the race start

Lewis Hamilton had a nightmare start to his race at the Hungarian GP. After a slow start, Hamilton battled Max Verstappen until losing position in the first corner.

Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri slipped into second as Hamilton went wide. Lando Norris followed suit in the third corner as the Mercedes driver dropped down to fourth over the course of the first three corners.

"The start, actually the initial getaway wasn’t the worst I’ve ever had, but it obviously wasn’t as good as Max’s. I had a bit of wheelspin, and then obviously Max was on the inside and he ran me wide, and I got done by the two McLarens," Lewis Hamilton continued.

"So definitely not a great start, kind of reminiscent of 2015 when I fell back from first," he added.

Hamilton surged back in the later stages of the race in the race to claim the fourth position.