Lewis Hamilton has claimed that Mercedes “didn’t listen” to his considerations in regards to the group’s new W14 automotive.
Hopes for an improved marketing campaign for the group have been dented by a sluggish begin to the season, with George Russell and Hamilton off-the-pace all through the season-opening weekend in Bahrain.
The seven-time world champion finally got here dwelling fifth on the Sakhir Circuit, two locations forward of his teammate.
Mercedes handled main efficiency issues in 2022, with their W13 automobile struggling significantly with ‘porpoising’, and it seems that low season tweaks haven’t considerably altered the automotive’s competitiveness.
Hamilton has now urged that the group ignored his considerations, calling for “accountability” and a collective effort to unravel their issues.
“Last year, I told them the issues that are with the car,” Hamilton stated to the BBC. “Like, I’ve driven so many cars in my life, so I know what a car needs, I know what a car doesn’t need.
“And I think it’s really about accountability, 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.
“We’re still multi World Champions you know, it’s just they haven’t got it right this time, they didn’t get it right last year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get it right moving forwards.”
Hamilton concluded final season with out a win for the primary time in his F1 profession, and finally completed sixth within the Drivers’ Championship.
The 38-year-old continues to hunt a document eighth world title that will take him away from Michael Schumacher as essentially the most profitable driver in historical past.
A title problem appears a distant prospect this 12 months, although, with Red Bull once more wanting lead contenders after Max Verstappen’s cruise to victory in Bahrain.
“[Red Bull] have this championship sewn up,” Russell, Hamilton’s teammate, said after the primary race of the season. “I don’t think anybody is going to be fighting with them this year.
“They should win every race is my bet with the performance they’ve got.”
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