After a second season in a row in which a championship charge has been out of the question for Mercedes, Hamilton has been looking ahead to what 2024 might hold
Lewis Hamilton hopes his Mercedes team can take parts of this season’s flawed W14 car to create a machine which can propel him back into the Formula 1 title conversation.
Championship hopes have not been huge for the seven-time title-winner over the past two seasons. Even after a dismal 2022 season, by Mercedes’ lofty standards, the team opted to stick with its bold ‘zeropod’ concept, adamant that there was a way to unlock its true potential.
But the start of this campaign finally helped Toto Wolff and his lieutenants to realise that it was a lost cause. But, by the time a more conventional aerodynamic design had been put on track in Monaco, it was already far too late.
Hamilton’s race win drought stretches back for almost two years now. It is a barren run he will be keen to end at the earliest opportunity, but it remains to be seen whether the 2024 season will offer any more clear-cut opportunities for him to do so.
Lewis Hamilton hopes his Mercedes team can take parts of this season’s flawed W14 car to create a machine which can propel him back into the Formula 1 title conversation.
Championship hopes have not been huge for the seven-time title-winner over the past two seasons. Even after a dismal 2022 season, by Mercedes’ lofty standards, the team opted to stick with its bold ‘zeropod’ concept, adamant that there was a way to unlock its true potential.
But the start of this campaign finally helped Toto Wolff and his lieutenants to realise that it was a lost cause. But, by the time a more conventional aerodynamic design had been put on track in Monaco, it was already far too late.
Hamilton’s race win drought stretches back for almost two years now. It is a barren run he will be keen to end at the earliest opportunity, but it remains to be seen whether the 2024 season will offer any more clear-cut opportunities for him to do so.
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Even if the W14 has not given him the change to challenge for race wins and the title, Hamilton feels it can contribute to what he hopes will be a more competitive car next year. “Well, we won’t ever bin the car of course. These cars are still masterpieces, really, even if they’re not the fastest car in the world,” he told reporters.
“Two thousand people have worked so hard to build these things, and they will continue to be a part of our history and our learning curve. There will be bits of it that we try to change, try to hold on to some of the positives because there’s always positives, good and bad sides, and so we’re trying to hold on to the positives.
“With the new direction we have, it’s far too early to be optimistic about next year’s car because we are just in the process of going into that. But I have full faith in the crew that they’re going to take it in the direction that it needs to go.
“There’s been a lot of learning in these past two years so if we haven’t figured it out by next year then obviously we will just keep working away at it. But I’m hoping that they have.”
Hamilton is fully aware, though, that the task facing his team to be competitive with Red Bull next year is huge. The Brit has already conceded that his team will need to make an unprecedented leap in performance if he is to mount a serious challenge against Max Verstappen in 2024.
He said: “I think all the points that George [Russell] and I give have been fully listened to. I have no idea where the car is going to be next year but we are a long, long way away. The next six months have got to be the best six months of development we’ve ever had to close that gap, to be really banging on the door.”
However, Hamilton is fully aware that the task his team faces in competing with Red Bull next year is huge. The Briton has admitted that his team will need to make an unprecedented leap in performance if they are to mount a serious challenge against Max Verstappen in 2024.
He say:
“I think all the views that George [Russell] and I have put forward have been fully heard. I don’t know what the car will be like next year but we’re very, very far away. The next six months should be It will be the most wonderful time.” six months of development, we had to close that gap to really knock on the door.”
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