"They hadn’t made the changes I’d asked for": Lewis Hamilton shares why he was 'frustrated' at Mercedes early in the season

Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he was frustrated with Mercedes earlier this year because they hadn't made the changes he asked for. The German team has been the most dominant in the sport in the last decade.

The change in regulations has put a stop to that dominance as the team has been unable to get on top of the ground effect cars.

This was evident for Mercedes early on in the 2023 season as they found themselves too far behind Red Bull in the first race of the season. The team stumbled due to a wrong car concept in 2022 when the regulations were first introduced. However, when George Russell won the race in Brazil, the design team felt it had gotten on top of the issues.

Coming into the 2023 F1 season, Mercedes continued with the no-sidepod concept and after the very first race, it became clear that the car was just not competitive enough.

Lewis Hamilton was quite vocal about this in the very first race of the season and told the media that the design team did not listen to his advice. Fast forward to the end of the season, the Brit touched on how he had faith in the team and how he appreciated the focus and values of his team members. He said in an interview with The Race:

“I do have faith that we will get there, we have been [at the top] before as a team, and while we have more and more new people, we still have great values and I see great focus within everyone."

He added:

"It’s just having really good conversations with everyone back at the factory that they actually make the changes and make the right decisions, and that so easily can go the wrong way."

Referring to what transpired in the 2023 season, Lewis Hamilton said that he became frustrated when the team didn't make the changes that he had asked for. He continued:

“I think for this year they thought the fundamentals were good and we just had to do this, this and this - and it was not the case. That’s why I was frustrated in February, because they hadn’t made the changes I’d asked for. With the changes we are making now, I hope we are right. But I guess we have no idea what the Red Bulls are going to do.”

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Lewis Hamilton on the first impression he had while driving the Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton looked back at the start of the season when he first drove the Mercedes. The driver claimed that he didn't feel anything different with the car and he was already worried about how the season was going to pan out. He said,

“I remember being in the garage... just trying to think. I remember having bouncing still. I remember it feeling exactly the same, and definitely it was not a great feeling… the car had all these problems. So I just knew that it was going to be a long year.”

The 2023 F1 season was the second time Lewis Hamilton went an entire year without winning a race. The driver has not won a race since the 2021 F1 season as the car has seemingly failed to keep up with its competitors, especially Red Bull.

Hamilton finished P3 in the World Driver's Championship this season with 234 points — an astonishing 341 points behind winner Max Verstappen.