Lewis Hamilton says he hasn’t always been the best version of himself behind the scenes this season as Mercedes F1 has struggled with new aero regulations.
Eight times defending champion for the constructors, the German team has still not won a single race this season, which has not happened to them in a whole year since 2011. And if things have improved lately, they does not yet show the pace of Red Bull and Ferrari.
Himself in a much better period as he remains on five consecutive podium finishes, Hamilton has revealed that he has been at his lowest at certain points in this 2022 campaign, notably in Jeddah and Imola, where he was respectively eliminated in Q1 then anonymous in the race with a 13th place finish.
Moreover, during the Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna, the seven-time world champion had been seen having a lively exchange with his director, Toto Wolff, the two men usually having an excellent relationship.
In an interview with his former team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, Hamilton discusses the many difficulties encountered this season.
« I haven’t always been perfect, and certainly not behind the scenes. I would say there have been difficulties since the end of last year. It’s been a strange process. »
“I tried and experimented with a lot of things in the car, and we were often taken by surprise, and I struggled to find myself comfortable in the car this year.
“We can win races this year”
If Mercedes F1 still shows a performance deficit compared to Red Bull and Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton remains convinced that his team will be able to win a Grand Prix before the end of the season.
« I sincerely believe that we have the potential to win races. I hope every weekend that we find something that gives us more downforce without the car bouncing. But it wasn’t easy to achieve this for the team. »
« Nobody gave up. I think we have to recognize that the others have done a better job than us and whatever philosophy they have chosen, we have to be aware of that for the future, we must not be stubborn and say ‘no, our solution is the right one and it will eventually work’, otherwise we will have to wait for years. »
« I sincerely believe that we will get a victory this year, but it is still not enough considering the work done. »
