Lewis Hamilton makes a shocking claim, states Red Bull side pods on W14 could make it slower
Hamilton had criticised Mercedes after the Bahrain GP for not listening to him about the car design, but later revealed that it was a poor choice of words.
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Lewis Hamilton. Image via Sports Illustrated.
Mercedes dominated Formula 1 for a long period. They won seven drivers title from 2014-2020. The team won eight constructors’ titles consecutively (2014-2021). However, Red Bull ended the Brackley team’s streak last season. The team failed to deliver a competitive car for the 2023 season. There are speculations that Mercedes will change its flawed concept, the zero-side pod design. The team will adopt something similar to Red Bull. But, Lewis Hamilton, the team’s record breaker, does not believe Red Bull side-pods on W14 would solve the problem. According to him, it could make them slower.
Hamilton is certain that the team will make drastic changes to the car in the upcoming races. He wants to work on what they have and extract its potential. The seven-time world champion explained that it is not just the side pods. It is about the aero characteristics as well. Toto Wolff admitted that Mercedes were misled by the simulation data last season. This was because of George Russell’s win in the Brazilian GP. It was a promising result for the team.
“I think we have what we have, and we’re going to continue to try to work on it and extract more from it, and we’ll see how quickly that can happen, or whether that’s possible with the concept we have. And then in the short term we will start to find out whether or not we’ve got to make loads of big, drastic changes, I mean there are drastic changes which we will do.” said the Briton.
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Lewis Hamilton trusts his team and wants to move forward with a new concept
“People keep talking about getting the new sidepods on the car but it’s not as simple as that. You put the Red Bull sidepods on our car and it won’t change a thing, it literally won’t change a thing, it might even go slower.” Hamilton stressed the importance of aero characteristics and balanced through the corners. There are different elements to the car. And the aerodynamicists are the experts.
Hamilton was frustrated after the first two races of the 2023 season. He revealed that the team did not listen to him regarding the car design. The Briton further stated that he was right in this scenario. “I’m one of those people that always likes to be right, but I’m not always right, but in this scenario I was right”. The team will make the necessary changes together and focus on moving forward.
Lewis Hamilton confessed that he had disagreements with his team and vice versa. However, it is inevitable in relationships. Mercedes had success for a long period in Formula 1. The German manufacturer dominated the sport. The team wants to go back to winning championships as soon as possible. They will throw everything they have into making W14 the most efficient car and changing their concept.
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Sugantha Meena
(493 Articles Published)