After a disappointing Japanese Grand Prix weekend, where Mercedes found itself with only the fourth quickest car, it is aware of just how far ahead Red Bull remains right now.
Hamilton, who has been pushing hard for Mercedes to totally revamp its concept approach, said that there should be no shying away from accepting the size of the gap that needs to be closed before the start of the 2024 season.
“I have no idea where the car is going to be next year, but we’re a long, long way away,” he told Sky Sports.
“We’ve got to hope for the next six months to be the greatest six months of development that we’ve ever had to close that gap and to be really banging on the door.”
While the time gap to the front looks sizeable, Hamilton thinks that the example of McLaren – which changed car approach to help it emerge as Red Bull’s closest rival – is proof of the leap that his team can make.
“The evidence is there at McLaren, and we can’t turn a blind eye to that – to look at what they’ve done and go in that direction,” he said. “That is the direction.
“But I truly believe my team can do it, and we’ve always been great at putting downforce on the car. It’s just that, with the way our car currently works, adding downforce doesn’t work, it just makes it bounce more.
Source: Autosport