Lewis Hamilton breaks down his ‘difficult winter and very unusual’ F1 off-season ahead of the Bahrain GP

For the first time, the seven-time world champion opens up about his time off in winter.

Lewis Hamilton breaks down his ‘difficult winter and very unusual’ F1 off-season ahead of the Bahrain GP

Lewis Hamilton (Via: Imago)

The 2024 F1 silly season was eventful, to say the least for Lewis Hamilton. Alongside signing a multi-year contract with Ferrari to race for them from 2025. This wasn’t the only major change that was made ahead of the F1 season. After three years Hamilton left talent advisory firm Copper, where he had worked with former racer Penni Thow, and has since rejoined former teammate Marc Hynes.

Hynes, who coached Hamilton as a driver in Formula Renault and F3 in the past, is teaming up with the Englishman again and building a diverse squad. Tests of Hamilton’s new organizational structure took place when the Ferrari drive for 2025 was discussed and announced during the F1 off-season. Hamilton claimed that the Ferrari opportunity was an “upside down” experience that required additional behind-the-scenes work to get the deal he desired. The new team played an important role in the team.

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It was a difficult winter, I would say, and a very unusual one. [There's been] a lot of deep, deep thought throughout December. Obviously, [there are] things going on with management, which is taking a lot of time to reshape. That's never an easy process, but it's all amicable. I'm now just working on rebuilding my own team, I have lots of things that I want to do and I know exactly what I want to do. It's about finding good people to add into your team, making sure that it's diverse. That's always at the heart of what I try to put in place.
Lewis Hamilton said, as reported by motorsport.com.

In the same interview, Hamilton highlighted the proud moments he has shared with Mercedes over the years of the tracks that were aided by his old management team. Having contributed to the Accelerate 25 and Mission 44 initiatives to broaden diversity in Formula One, Hamilton is proud of his legacy at Mercedes. He is proud of the team’s and the company’s efforts to broaden the diversity of its workforce.

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There will be a few ‘tetchy’ moments involving Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton in 2024

When Hamilton announced that he was leaving Mercedes for Ferrari and would be leaving the F1 paddock altogether, even team boss Toto Wolff was taken aback. This season, Martin Brundle anticipates tense moments between Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes as the team focuses on proving George Russell can lead the group.

Lewis Hamilton, Toto Wolff (via IMAGO) and W15's borderline illegal front-wing (via Planetf1).jpg
Lewis Hamilton, Toto Wolff (via IMAGO) and W15’s borderline illegal front-wing (via Planetf1).jpg

Mercedes is concentrating on finding a replacement for Hamilton and figuring out their strategy for this season. To ensure that sponsors and supporters continue to have faith in Russell in the post-Hamilton era, Brundle feels the Brackley team needs to strike a balance between Russell’s leadership and Hamilton’s goals as a six-time Mercedes World Champion.

According to the F1 pundit, the team will want to show the sponsors as well as the fans that Russell is very capable of taking up the lead in the next season. The team will prioritize Russell over Hamilton for this purpose, which will be a good advantage for Russell to come out of the shadows of the seven-time world champion.

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