While the Brackley squad remains in a close battle with Red Bull for the F1 title, it has had to fight its way through an intense campaign in which it was sometimes on the way back.
This was particularly true in the pre-season tests, when the effects of new aero regulations on the balance of the Mercedes car became apparent.
Speaking to select media outlets, including Motorsport.com, about the championship fight, Hamilton said the season had been a tough one to get the full potential of the W12 so that it could deliver whatever it wanted.
And he says the W12 is one step higher than the famous difficult car from 2017, which Mercedes boss Toto Wolff described as the original “diva”.
“I would say I was more committed than ever,” said Hamilton of the progress made this year.
“I am generally very satisfied with my commitment and my performance.
“But I would say what I noticed this year, which is just a fact, is that the car was very, very difficult to set up.
“I can’t remember if it was last year or earlier, Toto would say it was a diva. But this one is a monster from a diva.
“And what we often find, and that we had less practice time, is that it was more difficult to get the car into the right window.
“That’s why you limit your potential if you can’t get the car into the right window. So I’m just not able to maximize my skills because the setup isn’t in the right place, and it was very, very hard to get it in place.
“[In Brazil]I got the car exactly where I wanted. And that was like literally hitting the nail on the head. But we did that maybe once or twice this year. “
Lewis Hamilton celebrates his GP victory in Qatar with Mercedes
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
A roller coaster ride
The tricky situation that Mercedes found especially at the beginning of the year was triggered by new ground rules for 2021, which seem to have done more damage to the low-rake cars.
Hamilton said his team’s ability to respond to the challenges posed by reducing downforce was also not aided by the regulatory requirements, which the teams were limited in their ability to make.
“We knew we were going to lose all that downforce, and when we found out how much downforce we’d lost, the whole characteristics of the car changed,” he said.
“What we worked on for so many years to get the car into that sweet spot like last year was a nightmare undoing or playing with the tools when you can’t change any of the tools.
“It’s just what it is, and it was about finding smart ways to get around less downforce. There were many elements that made it harder than ever.
“It was the toughest car to set up and I did a lot of sim tests. But even on sim days you go and do a sim day and the sim is not in the right place where it should be – the grip level is wrong or the wind effect is not right or the thermal degradation is set incorrectly, so you can get away with wrong numbers.
“You have to be very careful with the data you receive and the decisions you make. It was a roller coaster ride. “
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