“You just can’t copy and paste”- Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton opens up about recent car request frustrations

Lewis Hamilton opened up on the recent frustrations regarding the W14's development, saying that it is natural in a competitive sport like Formula 1.

He added that the team has been caught 'off-guard' in terms of the cost cap and the new regulations, and hence has been losing out. PlanetF1 quoted him as saying:

"I think in the heated and intense sport that we’re living in, of course there’s frustrations on both sides all of the time and what’s important is you just continue to be open and communicate about those."

Perhaps talking about getting inspired by other teams to develop their car concept, Lewis Hamilton added that Mercedes cannot just 'copy and paste' the elements. He believes that even though there have been arguments with the team, those conversations have somehow helped them grow.

"I think you’re constantly growing through those conversations. I think the most important thing is to be aligned on where you’re going," Hamilton said.

"There’s no doubt that everyone in this team wants to win. We’ve been caught off guard about the cost cap and just the direction of the new regulations, and you just can’t copy and paste and do something different," he added.

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Lewis Hamilton claims Mercedes are more 'open-minded' now

Mercedes stuck with the zero pod design concept for the entirety of the 2022 season and continued in the 2023 season until the Monaco Grand Prix. That design was considered to be a flaw and was speculated to be the reason for their loss in competitiveness against other cars.

When the team switched to the new design, there was an obvious change in their performance. Aston Martin became one of their potential targets and Lewis Hamilton even managed to get in a couple of podium places. But they have again lost out in recent races.

Hamilton revealed that it is possible that the team was a little slow to understand their concept and work on the car, but now they have certainly got some grip. He also added that they might get to the top during the next season.

"It has to evolve and manoeuvre into a different direction. It just takes time. Has it been quick enough? Maybe not but the good thing is we’ve now sat down, we’ve now said okay we’re more open minded, this is maybe the direction we need to go so let’s explore it and let’s get on top of it for next year."

Lewis Hamilton currently stands fourth in the standings with 156 points. He is in direct competition with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who is above him with 168 points.