Hamilton discloses ‘dream’ scenario for Mercedes’ 2024 F1 car
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The seven-time world champion endured another tough campaign that marked his second season in a row without a single victory, as Mercedes went winless for the first time since 2011. Hamilton and Mercedes are pinning hopes of a revival on a brand new car concept with their W15 challenger, which the 38-year-old Briton hopes will be a clean slate after back-to-back flawed designs. “There have been a few positives, such as getting pole position in Budapest, which we didn’t think was going to be possible when I first drove the car,” said Hamilton, who finished third in the championship behind the Red Bull pair.”The upgrade that we saw in Austria, and the fact that with a couple more laps, we could have been in shooting range for a win, shows that we are slowly morphing this car into a more competitive machine.
“It’s gotten more enjoyable to drive, and to be in a position where you actually go forwards rather than backwards.”It’s been positive, but it is still not fundamentally a winning car, and that is what we’ve got to change next year.”The dream is to make sure that when we start in February next year, the car is not a replica of this year’s car and feel exactly the same – but i am pretty sure that’s not going to be the case.”Hamilton has conceded Mercedes are under a “huge amount” of pressure to ensure the team do not get their car wrong for a third straight year. Related Marko details two factors stopping Verstappen-Hamilton Red Bull line-up Allison reveals ‘most destructive pattern’ Mercedes fell into and how to fix itHe also admitted to feeling frustrated that Mercedes did not listen to his concerns about the development of their W14 car. “I’m sure there were frustrations, because I had asked for certain changes, and they weren’t done,” he told the BBC. “No-one knew exactly what the problem was. No-one knew how to fix it.”
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