Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has not won a race since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with Mercedes having been no regular match for Red Bull in F1’s ground effect era that started in 2022.
However, there is a sense of growing confidence within Mercedes that the work it has done on its 2024 F1 car has helped eradicating key problems that has held it back.
While some have questioned whether Hamilton still has as much hunger to succeed off the back of the difficult spell he has been through, Mercedes technical director James Allison has no doubts he will be up for the fight ahead.
“I think you'd struggle to find a driver anywhere in the grid that wasn't motivated,” explained Allison. “I think that sort of comes with the territory with them. And generally speaking, the more successful the drivers have been, the more sort of inescapable that compulsive need to win is.
“In Lewis's case, it's just a core part of who he is, so there's no doubt about his motivation to get back to winning ways. But whether or not he can do that, will be much more in the hands of the equipment we've given him than in his own hands. He's always had that ability there.”
Source: Autosport