Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Monaco, 2023

‘Lost’ Mercedes have ‘found their north star’ with long-awaited update – Hamilton

2023 Monaco Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes have finally set themselves on the right development path with the major upgrade it has brought for this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.

The revisions to the team’s car were due for introduction at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix a week ago before the event was cancelled due to flooding. That meant the team had to wait until this weekend’s race in Monaco to debut them.

Hamilton said the team is eager to evaluate the changes but is wary the extreme and unusual nature of the Monaco circuit means they won’t be able to fully judge its effect.

“With the upgrades, it will be difficult to see just how it works at this kind of track,” said Hamilton. “But I’m hopeful that it puts us a little bit closer to [the front].

“I don’t think we’ll be fighting for a win, necessarily, but hopefully it’ll be more than a fight.”

The update marks a major change in development direction for the team. Mercedes has laboured to produce a competitive design under the technical regulations which were introduced at the beginning of last season. It has won only one race during that time as its run of eight consecutive world championship victories ended.

Hamilton said the team is confident it has finally found the correct development path having dropped its distinctive ‘zero sidepod’ concept.

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“Last year we were a little bit lost in terms of how to fix the issue that we had,” he said. “I feel like the team now have a north star, they know exactly where they need to go and we’re working on how to get there.

“The amount of work has gone in is incredible and I’m very, very grateful for the hard work. I’ve been so excited to get in the car and feel these changes and I feel that hopefully puts us on the right path now to progress forward and try and catch the guys ahead.”

He said he is encouraged by how Mercedes has pulled together as a team despite the slump in their results over the last 18 months.

“As the sport continues to grow, there’s more and more people coming onto the team. There’s a lot of people on the team that have had all the success that we’ve had in the past and there’s a lot of people that haven’t had that success yet and are super hungry. I’m really encouraged when I do go back to the factory and see just how hard everyone’s working.”

Pictures: Mercedes’ Monaco Grand Prix updates

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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7 comments on “‘Lost’ Mercedes have ‘found their north star’ with long-awaited update – Hamilton”

  1. Proesterchen_nli
    26th May 2023, 9:06

    Mercedes were not lost, they followed a fool (or group of fools) down the rabbit hole.

  2. Electroball76
    26th May 2023, 10:03

    The wise scholars of Mercedes studied the mysteries of the stars. The constellations of the Bull, the Little Horse, the Little Bear, and the Astron Martian.
    Finally the heavens revealed their secrets..
    Side pods.
    It was side pods, and had been for generations.

    1. lol they would really look dumb if they become 2nd best team with sidepods

  3. I always believed in this team but I also believed in their engineering structure and processes. I still believe in their ability to build a championship winning car but at the same time I’m disappointed by their approach. When they realized trough the performance of Aston Martin that there is something fundamentally wrong with their car they changed front suspension kinematics and introduced aero modifications. Better late than never, some will say. I’m sure that James Allison, alias north star, will keep them in the right direction.

  4. They have been open about their struggles, I suspect Allison knew all along but let the aero team make their own mistakes. Important lesson, we’ll see how they progress now.

  5. That light’s not the North Star, it’s a train coming the other way.

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