Heading into his final season with Mercedes before his move to Ferrari in 2025, Lewis Hamilton has made it clear that his motivation to win again with the Silver Arrows is as strong as ever.
The seven-time world champion and his current team mate George Russell were both at the team launch event at Silverstone of this year's new car, the W15, which Hamilton is hoping will help them close the gap to Red Bull.
Mercedes didn't win a single race all season in 2023 which saw Red Bull run rampant, and the team has been focussed on creating a new car that will make it easier for Hamilton and Russell to extract greater performance on track.
"The learnings of the past two years have helped us find our direction," Hamilton insisted. "It's enabled us to find our north star.
"If you're not comfortable with the car, you're not able to extract the maximum performance," Hamilton explained. "A more stable, more predictable car will enable us to extract the potential from not only the car but ourselves as drivers."
"It's still going to be a work in progress, but we will face whatever challenges present themselves with our heads up, with open minds, and work through diligently."
Throughout 2023, Mercedes struggled to get their car and its "sometimes spiteful rear-end" into the optimal operating window, leading to inconsistent performances from race to race and even session to session.
© Mercedes
Russell hopes that will be a thing of the past with the W15. "We've learnt and grown as a team over the past two seasons," he said. "It's not been plain sailing, but I truly believe the journey we've been on will make us stronger in the long run.
"We made progress with some of the nastier characteristics of the W14 throughout last year but we still had a narrow operating window," he confirmed. "Once we were outside of that, the car was difficult to drive.
"If we can continue to widen the operating window of the car, that will provide confidence for us as a drivers and from there, lap time is easier to find," Russell added.
But both drivers are acutely aware that Mercedes has a lot of lost ground to catch up to their rivals, and it won't be easy. "F1 is an incredibly difficult sport. It's very hard to win, and that's why we love it," said Russell.
"Every woman and man at Brackley and Brixworth is so focused on getting to the top. We continue with that focus and dedication into 2024 and I'm excited to see where that takes us."
© Mercedes
Hamilton didn't address his imminent departure from Brackley at the main presentation, and instead stressed his fidelity to Mercedes and his hopes of signing off with a successful final season together.
"We are all mega-motivated for the year ahead and will be giving it everything we've got on the journey ahead," he said.
"I know what this team is capable of. I am incredibly grateful for the work of every single person in this team. Every time you're in the factory, you can see the sheer drive and determination of everyone."
Mick Schumacher returns as the team's official test and reserve driver, with Fred Vesti also stepping up to this position following his graduation from the junior programme.
Mercedes is yet to decide who will replace Hamilton next season.
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