Lewis Hamilton says he is looking forward to never driving a troubled Mercedes W13 again after the Abu Dhabi F1 test.
Lewis Hamilton will drive the Mercedes W13 one last time to test the 2023 Pirelli tires in post-season testing at the Yas Marina Circuit on Tuesday.
Despite the seemingly innovative ‘zero pods’, the Mercedes W13 was riddled with problems, with the team having problems with transitions and riding for much of the season after pre-season testing.
In the GP F1 Abu Dhabi George Russell and Lewis Hamilton won second, and Mercedes F1 managed a 1-2 finish, but problems occurred again in the Abu Dhabi GP final.
“In a way it reminded me of the race before Austin[gyda’r uwchraddio terfynol]and the bouncing is back. It wasn’t easy.”
When asked what the team would need to address with next year’s car, Hamilton revealed that the W13 has several weaknesses.
“Breaking, bouncing is probably number one, drag is probably number two, or tied for number one. There are many others,” said Lewis Hamilton.
“We’ve got downforce for sure, but we need to build a more efficient car. I think everyone in the team knows exactly what’s wrong, where it’s wrong, where it’s wrong. I’m sure they won’t make another car with those features.”
“So I’m looking forward to the end of Tuesday as this will be the last time I drive this car. And I’m never going to drive it again. It’s not going to be one of the cars I ask for them in my contract. !” He dismissed Lewis Hamilton as a future car gift.
Mercedes F1 team boss Toto Wolff joked earlier this year that the W13 would not be a very memorable car.
“I don’t think it will be put in the best place in the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. We might go into a cave for a while,” said Toto Worg.
“We were able to perform well on the tracks in Mexico and Brazil, mainly with a lack of high downforce, which is the sweet spot in our car’s DNA,” said Wolff.
“If it’s fast and in a straight line, we’re not very competitive. We had a slightly draggy car, which benefited us.”
“So we’re still third in the pecking order. I guess you could say that, but we’re very close and today we can win if we’re on the right race track. That’s the most important thing.”
And Lewis Hamilton retired from GP Abu Dhabi F1 final 2022. The 2022 F1 world championship was Hamilton’s first pole position and winless season in his 16-year F1 career, with the final round set on lap 55 of 58 after suspected hydraulic problems.
Asked if the end of the race sums up the season, Hamilton said: “Yes, I really think so.”
“In the end I think we started with a car that wasn’t what we wanted and ended up with a car that wasn’t what we wanted. We’ve been working hard to improve on that, but I’ n think that the fundamentals continue until the end, as we saw this weekend.”
“This year has been a team-building exercise and I’m very proud of everyone … I’m not celebrating the World Championships, but I’m going to celebrate their hard work and effort.”
“Hopefully this year’s battle will really give us the tools and strength to fight for more championships in the future.”
Lewis Hamilton explained that a hard landing over the edge of a sausage while battling Carlos Sainz on Lap 1 at Yas Marina cost him his performance. However, he improved in the second period. One-stop Hamilton was running fourth before retiring, but two-stop Carlos Sainz closed in on him before a hydraulic problem slowed him down.
“There’s a bib under the seat, just under the floor, and it hits hard… and when that happens, you lose a bit of performance. The balance shifts forward. All of a sudden the wing is loaded. It’s like, I was struggling with a car that was overtaking quite a bit,” Hamilton said.
“After the pit stop we pulled a lot of wings and managed to rebalance.
Lewis Hamilton added that he will go into the winter break without F1 in mind.
“I’m not just looking forward to next year or anything like that at the moment, I’m looking forward to putting my energy into my family. I’m looking forward to going back and seeing my family. I haven’t seen.” Relax, stay healthy and stay positive…” said Lewis Hamilton.
Category: F1 / Lewis Hamilton / mercedes
