In the heat of the 2021 Drivers’ Championship battle, Lewis Hamilton took the win in the inaugural Saudi Arabian GP on the streets of Jeddah to put him level with Max Verstappen on points going into the last race of the year, the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. While we know what happened there, that first race in Saudi Arabia marked a feat that hasn’t been replicated since: a win by Lewis Hamilton.
While Mercedes have won once since then, when George Russell won in Sao Paulo in 2022, the team is nowhere near its former glory, and has lagged behind Red Bull and even Ferrari in this new era of ground effect cars that has taken hold since 2022.
Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team
While not winning may take out the desire and drive to win, Mercedes’ Technical Director James Allisson says the contrary about Lewis Hamilton, saying that his desire to win has been stronger than ever.
“I think you’d struggle to find a driver anywhere in the grid that wasn’t motivated,” explained Allison.
“I think that sort of comes with the territory with them. And generally speaking, 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.”
Mercedes have truly struggled since that infamous race in Abu Dhabi. While they did place second this past season in the constructors’championship, the car was fundamentally flawed, which was not only mentioned, but highlighted by comments from Team Principal Toto Wolff, both drivers and Allisson.
With that being said, Allisson said that it’s the drivers’ responsibility to relay notes and pointers of improvement to the team so that the car can return to title contention form.
“Both drivers, their role over the winter is very largely to look after their physical condition, make sure that they’re mentally prepared and just stay in touch with us about our successes and failures as we are going through the hoops of getting the car specified, built, tested and ready for them,” he said.
“It isn’t really a part of the year where they can have other than an observing role with what we’re doing.”
“Once the car is running and once the car is talking to us, the person that is the interpreter is the driver, and then their voices start to have much greater weight. So over the winter, it’s just getting themselves ready for the new challenge,” he concluded looking forward to the first race of the year, set to take place in Bahrain on the 2nd of March.
