Lewis Hamilton slams F1 competitors by saying Mercedes is ‘not a team that copies’

Lewis Hamilton is confident about Mercedes’s new F1 challenger for the 2023 season.

Lewis Hamilton slams F1 competitors by saying Mercedes is ‘not a team that copies’

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton is one of the greatest drivers ever to set foot in a Formula One car. The maestro has gone on to impress many in the F1 paddock as his partnership with Mercedes has proven to be very fruitful. The British driver has won multiple F1 world championships with Mercedes over the last few years. However, the last two years have been a bit tough for the Brackley-based squad.

The 2022 F1 season was especially hard on Mercedes. After winning titles for multiple years, Formula 1’s new era was not at all friendly towards the German automobile manufacturer. The team had to face a lot of adversity over the season. Hamilton was not able to win a single race that season, but his teammate George Russell, on the other hand, went on to win the Brazilian Grand Prix and give the team a 1-2 finish.

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While things looked tough for Mercedes last year, the 2023 F1 season looks promising for the team. The Brackley-based manufacturer unveiled their car today. While many thought that the team would make significant changes to the car after a failed design, at least initially, the W14’s design is similar to that of the W13. This has given Hamilton the confidence that he needs for the upcoming season.

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Read More: Lewis Hamilton ‘anxious’ to see new Mercedes challenger’s on-track behaviour

Lewis Hamilton throws shade on other F1 teams

Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton

Here is what the 7-time world champion had to say: “I don’t believe we’ve ever been a team that copied other people. We’ve always been of our own mind and always been a team that’s incredibly creative and innovative and liked to do it our way. And I think this worked in the past,” he told The Race.

He then remarked that teams seemed to be ‘converging’ on the Red Bull design: “You can see a lot of the cars are converging to what the Red Bull looked like, except the Ferrari maybe. Last year we arrived and thought the car looked quick – and it wasn’t, with all the issues that we had. We’re coming into another season with a car that’s kind of similar-looking in many respects, because some of the elements are really hard to change. But you just have to have confidence in the engineers, and I do.”

Lewis Hamilton had a record for winning a race every season that he competed in the pinnacle of motorsport. However, his long streak was broken last year when Mercedes did not have the machinery to do so. Nevertheless, the 7-time world champion will be hungry to take at least a victory this season. The team’s newest design seems to have impressed the whole F1 world.

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