Mercedes claims Lewis Hamilton still has the ‘compulsive need to win’ despite being winless for two years

Lewis Hamilton has been competing in F1 for Mercedes since the 2013 season of the sport.

Mercedes claims Lewis Hamilton still has the ‘compulsive need to win’ despite being winless for two years

Lewis Hamilton (Via: Imago)

Lewis Hamilton, the former 7-time F1 world champion, is one of the best drivers to have graced the sport with his presence. While he has not had the best of times under the current set of F1 regulations, Mercedes technical director, James Allison, has made it known that he is still as hungry as ever.

Lewis Hamilton last won a race in the sport in 2021 at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Since then, he has been in a drought and now, it has been over two years since he was seen celebrating on the top step of the F1 podium.

YouTube video

However, despite his struggles, James Allison feels Hamilton still has the competitive edge in him. While shedding light on the same he recently said, as reported by Autosport:

FS Video
The more successful the drivers have been, the more sort of inescapable that compulsive need to win is. In Lewis's case, it's just a core part of who he is, so there's no doubt about his motivation to get back to winning ways. But whether or not he can do that, will be much more in the hands of the equipment we've given him than in his own hands. He's always had that ability there.

Looking at the reaction of the technical director, it is quite clear that Mercedes firmly believes that Lewis Hamilton, despite being 39 years old, still has the desire to win races. However, has also admitted that the onus is on the team to provide him with the right tools in order to help him in the best way possible.

Lewis Hamilton produced a strong 2023 F1 season

While Lewis Hamilton has the backing of the Brackley-based Mercedes team, he had a relatively strong 2023 F1 season in comparison to 2022. Hamilton was in sensational form last year and because of this, he was able to end the campaign in a well-deserved third place with 234 points.

Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton (via Twitter)

Moreover, keeping in view how unpredictable the W14 proved to be last year, the Brit deserves tremendous applause. It was not an easy task to tame the car but on the back of his experience, he was able to do a better job of handling it in comparison to his younger teammate, George Russell.

Mercedes is set to launch their 2024 F1 car on Valentine’s Day (14th February) and after that, the season will approach at the rate of knots. The first race weekend of the upcoming season is slated to kick off on the 29th of February at the free-flowing Bahrain International Circuit.

In case you missed it: