Lewis Hamilton opens up on ‘frustrations’ at Mercedes as F1 plea went unanswered

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Lewis Hamilton has now opened up on why the seven-time Formula 1 champion was ‘frustrated’ at Mercedes immediately at the start of the 2023 season back in Bahrain.

The Silver Arrows endured another frustrating season this year as they marginally held on to beat Ferrari for second in the constructors’ championship. Hamilton also finished this season third in the drivers’ standings. But his 234-point total was 341 fewer than Max Verstappen’s.

Verstappen could even have won the constructors’ championship on his own, too. Mercedes were Red Bull’s nearest challenger in terms of their points. But the Milton Keynes outfit took the championship with 860 points over the Silver Arrows on 409 and Ferrari with 406 points.

Hamilton endured his second winless Formula 1 season in 17 years

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was also the only non-Red Bull driver to win a Grand Prix in 2023 with a brilliant performance at the Singapore GP. So, Hamilton endured just a second-ever winless season in Formula 1. It also came on the back of his first-ever winless season over 17 years.

Hamilton also took his fewest podium finishes in a season since the 2013 campaign, his final year with McLaren. The 38-year-old stood on the rostrum just six times across 22 races this year. Just half of his podiums also came as the runner-up in Mexico City, Australia and Spain.

Mercedes also threatened Red Bull and Verstappen for the win at the United States GP. But a sub-optimal strategy meant Hamilton could not chase the 2023 champion down in time. The stewards would also later disqualify the Briton from the event for excessive wear to his floor.

Mercedes left his pleas unanswered after huge immediate concerns

Hamilton knew that 2023 was going to be a tough season for Mercedes from the start in Bahrain this March. He claimed at the time that the Silver Arrows were ‘on the wrong track’ after ending FP1 six-tenths of a second off the pace. The signs were even there in testing.

Now, Hamilton admits that the seven-time F1 champion held ‘big, big talks’ with Mercedes over the direction the team took with their car philosophy. He also believes ‘no one’ in the team knew how to resolve their issues and that the Silver Arrows left his pleas unanswered.

“I’m sure there were frustrations because I had asked for certain changes, and they weren’t done,” Hamilton told BBC Sport. The Briton added: “No one knew exactly what the problem was. No one knew how to fix it.

“Having the experience of the previous year, I just applied myself, in terms of digging down, sitting with the guys. We were having much better meetings. I was able to stay a lot more positive [things] during the year and be like: ‘It’s going to be a long season but let’s not give up. Let’s keep pushing towards getting the maximum out of the car, whatever that may be.’

“I think for this year they thought: ‘The fundamentals are good and we just have to go here.’ 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.”