Mercedes asserts that it has “no doubt” about Lewis Hamilton’s motivation to return to winning ways in Formula 1 despite the team’s struggles over the past two years.
Hamilton is the most successful driver in the sport’s history, having tied Michael Schumacher on seven titles and surpassed the records for pole positions and victories.
However, amid Mercedes’ continuous troubles since F1 returned to ground effect cars in 2022, the Briton has not added to his tally of 103 race wins since December 2021.
But despite scepticism in some quarters surrounding his commitment to the side, Hamilton penned a two-year extension with Mercedes last year to prolong his F1 career.
Mercedes Technical Director James Allison expressed that the team retains complete faith that Hamilton still possesses the desire to succeed and admits that the onus is on them to supply him with a competitive car.
“I think you’d struggle to find a driver anywhere in the grid that wasn’t motivated,” Allison told Autosport. “I think that sort of comes with the territory with them.
“And generally speaking, the more successful the drivers have been, the more sort of inescapable that compulsive need to win is.
“In Lewis’s case, it’s just a core part of who he is, so there’s no doubt about his motivation to get back to winning ways. But whether or not he can do that, will be much more in the hands of the equipment we’ve given him than in his own hands. He’s always had that ability there.”
Mercedes is pressing ahead with a revised car concept on its W15 challenger, with Allison optimistic it has addressed the “spiteful” rear-end traits of its predecessor.
While Allison concedes that Hamilton and George Russell’s involvement will be limited at this stage, he details the importance of the drivers once winter testing commences.
“Both drivers, their role over the winter is very largely to look after their physical condition, make sure that they’re mentally prepared and just stay in touch with us about our successes and failures as we are going through the hoops of getting the car specified, built, tested and ready for them,” he explained.
“It isn’t really a part of the year where they can have other than an observing role with what we’re doing.
“Once the car is running and once the car is talking to us, the person that is the interpreter is the driver, and then their voices start to have much greater weight. So over the winter, it’s just getting themselves ready for the new challenge.”
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