Lewis Hamilton’s automobile was not its finest final yr, when Hamilton completed in sixth place for the championship, and Mercedes completed third within the Constructor’s Championship, each outcomes beneath their requirements. But final yr was additionally the primary yr of many guidelines modifications, so all of us type of gave Mercedes a mulligan; maybe Mercedes was nonetheless adapting, at the same time as Red Bull didn’t appear to have a lot of an issue.
This yr, Mercedes will get much less of a move, and based mostly on the outcomes on the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Mercedes nonetheless has a number of work to do. In a brand new interview with a BBC podcast, Hamilton, naturally, says that the largest drawback is likely to be that Mercedes didn’t pay attention to 1 Lewis Hamilton.
As reported by The Guardian:
“Last year, there were things I told them. I said the issues that are with the car,” Hamilton advised the BBC’s Chequered Flag podcast on Wednesday. “I’ve driven so many cars in my life. I know what a car needs. I know what a car doesn’t need.
“I think it’s really about accountability,” the 38-year-old added. “It’s about owning up and saying, ‘Yeah, you know what? We didn’t listen to you. It’s not where it needs to be and we’ve got to work’”.
“We’ve got to look into the balance through the corners, look at all the weak points and just huddle up as a team. That’s what we do,” Hamilton added. “We’re still [multiple] world champions … just haven’t got it right this time. Didn’t get it right last year. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get it right moving forwards.”
It’s a little bit early for Hamilton to be throwing his group beneath the bus like this, on condition that we’re just one race into the Formula 1 calendar. But he’s proper that it’s a bit perplexing how Mercedes has come again so weak this yr, even letting Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin end forward of each Mercedeses, and Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin makes use of Mercedes’ engine and rear suspension geometry.
Meanwhile, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff says that Mercedes is likely to be eliminating the entire zero sidepod factor, which can or is probably not what Hamilton is mad about. On the intense facet, Hamilton did earn championship factors final weekend, although fewer than Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez, Alonso, and Carlos Sainz Jr. If this retains up, this season is wanting an increasing number of like a Red Bull cakewalk.
Source: jalopnik.com