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Lewis Hamilton has revealed dissatisfaction with the 2023 season as he looks to end his recent podium drought.
Lewis Hamilton drives his Mercedes W14 during Free Practice for the Italian Grand Prix (Image Credit: Mercedes AMG F1 Media Pool/LAT Images)2023 has proved to be a season of frustration for Lewis Hamilton. A challenging 2022 campaign saw the seven-time World Champion endure his first ever winless year, while teammate Russell took the only win for Mercedes in Brazil.
Hamilton came into 2023 hoping to emulate his teammate and return to winning ways. Instead, low expectations at the car launch have, so far, led to a season of disappointment. A tricky car to set up, the W14 continues to lag behind the all-conquering Red Bull of Max Verstappen.
Hamilton has secured four podiums in the first 15 rounds, including a memorable P3 at his home race at Silverstone. He has yet to return to the rostrum since.
Frustrations in Italy
Speaking to motorsport.com, Hamilton confirmed that his issues relate to struggling in qualifying. He also admitted Mercedes have the third-fastest car for the second consecutive year. Then, in a stark admission of dissatisfaction, he admitted that both he and the team are “counting down the days” until the launch of the 2024 challenger:
“Races are pretty straightforward for me. I’ve just got to do better in qualifying, so it’s not such a difficult day.
“And just living with the car that we have at the moment. Today is the third fastest car, and it’s obviously painful for all of us. We wish we were quicker. But we’re just counting down the days until February.”
Hamilton’s dissatisfaction with 2023 was likely not helped by his eventful race last time out in Italy. Before his collision with Oscar Piastri in the race’s closing stages, Hamilton’s concern over his alternate strategy of starting on hard tyres led to blunt radio messages to his team. The seven-time World Champion was blunt in his assessment, stating he was “screwed”.
Asked if he was upset at the decision to pit him, Hamilton confirmed he was “confused”, but said nursing his tyres allowed him to close the gap to the McLarens in front of him: “I definitely wasn’t upset. I was just supposed to go to lap 35, and the pace didn’t feel that great at that point. But they stopped me.
“The lap I pitted they said that I was going to target, and then all of a sudden they boxed me. So I was a little bit confused with that, that’s all. And then I was definitely concerned that I might not make it to the end.
“The gap was large between myself and the McLarens, I dropped back behind an Aston. So I didn’t, at that point, realise what my trajectory might be. But I took care of the tyres, closed the gap, and had that good battle.
Feature Image Credit: Mercedes AMG F1 Media Pool
