Lewis Hamilton says he is relishing the prospect of trialling Mercedes’ “last big update” for the 2023 Formula 1 season during this weekend’s United States Grand Prix.
Mercedes’ prospects at the Circuit of the Americas will be boosted by the addition of a revised floor to its W14 car, as the team looks to protect its 30-point buffer to Ferrari.
Hamilton, who previously declared that Mercedes needs “the greatest six months of development” the team has ever had to challenge in 2024, agrees that next year remains the German marque’s main priority.
“Well, it’s been a huge amount of work back at the factory,” Hamilton acknowledged.
“This is our last big update, or the biggest of the large updates through the season, and I’m really excited to see how it feels.
“All the amazing people back at the factory have worked incredibly hard during the whole season and hopefully this really kind of tips the needle a little bit and helps us in the right direction of where we want to pursue next year.
“But yeah, I don’t know exactly all the different parts of the circuit that I’ll feel it. But hopefully it’s a global improvement and hopefully puts us a little bit closer to the guys ahead.”
Last time out in Qatar, Mercedes squandered an opportunity to seize its first victory of the year when Hamilton and team-mate George Russell collided at Turn 1 on the first lap.
Hamilton immediately exited the race, while Russell was eventually able to recover to fourth, beating the sole remaining Ferrari to preserve Mercedes’ hold on second place.
Asked to reflect on his first retirement of the campaign, Hamilton said: “Move forwards. Yeah, just excited to get… You know, the great thing about our sport is that there’s always another day to get back on the horse and just been pushing, moving forwards and nothing I can do about the past.
“There’s definitely things we can learn from, I can learn from, which I have, and just now focused on getting back in and excited for these next races that come, especially the back-to-backs.”
Despite encountering a sluggish start to last season, Mercedes rebounded as the year progressed to usurp Ferrari as Red Bull’s closest challenger in the latter stages.
That culminated with the Brackley-based squad sealing a one-two at the penultimate race in Brazil as Russell beat Hamilton home to secure his maiden Formula 1 victory.
But Russell has downplayed Mercedes’ chances of replicating that late-season charge, insisting that the team is taking each of the remaining five rounds as they come.
“We’re not really thinking about it like that [comparing to last year], to be honest,” he argued.
“We just focus on race by race, maximizing the points. Of course, McLaren have made huge progress, which was unforeseen, but for us, we’re just trying to maximize.”
