Lewis Hamilton says the recent upgrades Mercedes have introduced will not improve the complaints he’s held over the cockpit position of its 2023 Formula 1 car.
Earlier in the season, Hamilton declared that he was encountering troubles with the position of his seat inside the W14 being too far forward, impacting his feel for the car.
Mercedes introduced a series of new parts in Monaco, which appear to have been successful following a double podium for the Brackley-based squad in Spain.
However, Hamilton asserts that nothing can be done in setting up the car even with the updates to improve his comfort inside the cockpit of this year’s Mercedes car.
“There’s nothing you can do about it [cockpit position], that’s just the way it is,” he said.
“The only things you can do is ultimately try to slow the rate of rotation, stabilise the rear end so that’s something you try and do on mechanical balance, but you’re just limited with the tools you have. It’s the same as last year.
“But the new suspension was a real positive for me, so it gave me a lot more confidence last week so I’m hoping that translates to here.”
Following a poor start to the year, Hamilton also expressed criticism towards the team for failing to listen to his advice when it came to constructing this season’s car.
Mercedes opted to persist with the zero sidepod concept it developed from the start of this regulation cycle – but decided to chase an alternative direction immediately after the first race weekend.
But amid an upturn in fortunes since the German marque launched its revised car in Monte Carlo, Hamilton asserts that Mercedes’ bid to return to winning ways will be dependent on the entire team.
When asked if he had upheld additional input in recent months, Hamilton said: “Well I mean it’s the input that we’ve been having as a team, both George and I, over the past year. It’s those constant conversations where we’re like ‘Why does that look like that’ and ‘Why does this look like this… ‘Have you tried that’.”
“We now have the wider sidepods more in the direction of what the Red Bull is. I mean it’s not been my decision to go that way.
“I think it’s been clear that when we dropped the car back on the ground at the first test it was basically the identical twin really to last year’s car except for the bouncing… so maybe the better-looking sister. But still with some of the very similar characteristics apart from the bouncing.
“But I think we’ve taken note of where we are and where we’ve gone wrong and now we’re slowly chipping away and trying to navigate our way back to the front – it’s just a long process, unfortunately,” he added.
After becoming the first team other than Red Bull to register two cars inside the top three in a race this year, Mercedes has moved above Aston Martin in the battle for second in the Constructors’ Championship.
Hamilton also enjoyed his second trip to the second step of the podium in 2023 in Barcelona, making him the only driver outside of the Red Bull pairing to do so.
The Brit currently lies fourth in the Drivers’ standings with 87 points, 12 points shy of long-time rival Fernando Alonso.
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