{"id":6749,"date":"2023-03-09T02:54:12","date_gmt":"2023-03-09T02:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/lewis-hamilton-says-mercedes-didnt-listen-to-his-concerns-about-2023-car\/"},"modified":"2023-03-09T02:54:13","modified_gmt":"2023-03-09T02:54:13","slug":"lewis-hamilton-says-mercedes-didnt-listen-to-his-concerns-about-2023-car","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/lewis-hamilton-says-mercedes-didnt-listen-to-his-concerns-about-2023-car\/","title":{"rendered":"Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes ‘didn’t listen’ to his concerns about 2023 car"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
<\/span><\/span>
Lewis Hamilton finished sixth in the 2022 drivers’ championship after a difficult season for Mercedes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes “didn’t listen” to him over the development of their 2023 Formula 1 car. <\/span><\/p>\n

“Last year, there were things I told them. I said the issues that are with the car,” said the 38-year-old Briton. <\/span><\/p>\n

“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.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Hamilton, who was talking to <\/span>the latest edition of BBC Radio 5 Live’s Chequered Flag podcast,<\/span><\/a> said he still believed Mercedes could return to the front at some point.<\/span><\/p>\n

“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’,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

“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.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“We’re still [multiple] world champions, you know? 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.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Hamilton’s remarks came as team principal Toto Wolff admitted Mercedes had made a mistake in continuing to pursue their car philosophy after a difficult 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of the grid have followed the design philosophy pioneered by Red Bull last year as Verstappen scored one of the most dominant championship victories ever.<\/span><\/p>\n

Aston Martin have done so with great effect to start the season with the second-fastest race car after finishing seventh in the championship last year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mercedes, by contrast, have stuck with their own unique approach, which features much narrower bodywork beside the driver in what has become known as a “zero-sidepod” concept. <\/span><\/p>\n

Wolff admitted in Bahrain that the team would have to change tack if they were to return to the front.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mercedes have spent the start of this week in meetings looking at the best approach to improve the performance of their car.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wolff said: “This is not a matter of finding 0.3secs and polishing the car up. This is a matter of serious performance we need to find to put us back in a position to fight for race wins and championships.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We have lost a year in development. In order to have a steeper development curve, you just need to take these decisions. <\/span><\/p>\n

“Aston Martin took that decision and they came back strong. If we start from our base, maybe we can come back strong and chase the Red Bulls. That’s the ambition.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Mercedes are planning to bring a revised design with bigger sidepods – more in the direction of the Red Bull than the shrunken bodywork on the Mercedes – for the San Marino Grand Prix in early May, or possibly the Miami Grand Prix which precedes it if the parts can be ready in time.<\/span><\/p>\n

But they are limited in the extent of modifications they can make this year, and substantial philosophical changes will have to wait until next year. <\/span><\/p>\n

‘We are not going to throw in white towel’ – Wolff<\/h3>\n

One example is that Mercedes sit their drivers further forward than Red Bull. This approach enabled them to combine the mandatory side-impact structures with an aerodynamic airflow-shaping element which led to their so-called ‘zero-sidepod’ approach.<\/span><\/p>\n

Red Bull’s car has wider bodywork beside the driver, but this has a pronounced undercut that channels air to the rear of the car to increase downforce by affecting the flow along the floor edge and over the diffuser at the back.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wolff has dismissed suggestions Hamilton could change his mind about staying with the team beyond the end of his contract this season as a result of their lack of performance.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Lewis is an integral part of the team, picking the team up and we are all sticking together and I don’t think that is going to change just because we had a start that was really bad,” Wolff said.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We have won eight constructors’ championships and six drivers’ championships with him and that relationship holds.<\/span><\/p>\n

“It would be much too easy to lose a driver and throw in the white towel. We are not doing that. <\/span><\/p>\n

“On the contrary, we just need to really dig deep and deeper than we have ever done and provide both drivers with a car they are able to fight with. <\/span><\/p>\n

“They are doing everything they can with the car but if the thing just slides through the corners and they have to correct, you just almost feel for them.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Watch<\/span><\/span>\"Watch<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lewis Hamilton finished sixth in the 2022 drivers’ championship after a difficult season for Mercedes Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes “didn’t listen” to him over the development of their 2023 Formula 1 car. “Last year, there were things I told them. I said the issues that are with the car,” said the 38-year-old Briton. “I’ve driven […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6749"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6749"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6751,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6749\/revisions\/6751"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}