Lewis Hamilton asserts that he will “win again” in Formula 1 amid a period of difficulty for himself and the Mercedes team.
Hamilton holds the record for the most race victories in F1 with 103, however his last grand prix win came at the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – 15 months ago.
Mercedes started the 2022 on the back foot amid the introduction of new technical regulations, and its poor form has carried over to the 2023 campaign.
But Hamilton has faith that he will take to the top step of the podium again before he departs the sport.
“I will win again. It’s just going to take some time,” he said.
“Of course in 2021 when we were here [in Saudi Arabia], we were hoping to be fighting for another World Championship. You know, you never know what’s up ahead.
“There will be things that happen in our in all of our lives that we least expect. But it’s not how you fall, it’s how you get up.
“It’s how you deal with it. It’s how you show up. It’s how you continue to remain positive and tackle the issues that you’re faced with.
“And so that’s where my energy is going into. And that’s where the everybody every single person in the team is focused on.”
Hamilton was informed W14 would be ‘thereabouts’ at front of F1 field
Mercedes’ W14 car for 2023 has been unable to contest against Red Bull in the opening rounds of the campaign.
George Russell, Hamilton’s team-mate, stated that his race win in Brazil last year (which was Mercedes’ only victory in 2022), led the team down an incorrect path.
Mercedes held optimism before the start of the year that it would be in a better position come the Bahrain opener compared to 2022.
Hamilton says that he was informed that the car would be competitive towards the front of the field – a situation that has not yet materialised.
“I think the comments that I would hear is that we probably won’t hit the ground straight away at the front but we should be there or thereabouts,” he said.
“So yeah, it was a bit of a shock when that wasn’t obviously the case. I knew that we weren’t in the right place.
“When you saw the car for the first time, it looks still so much different to those that that are our competitors. And it’s always nerve-racking in that moment.
“But it looked nice. Obviously, the colour looks nice, but I honestly don’t care what colour it is as long as it’s quick. But we will hopefully mould it into a winning car at some stage.”
Keyword: ‘I will win again in F1’, vows Hamilton