Lewis Hamilton calls Mercedes’ 2022 struggles ‘empowering’

Recently, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff opened up about the team’s struggles during the F1 season, discussing how the team got the ”physics” wrong when putting the car together for the 2022 campaign. On an episode of the F1 Beyond the Grid podcast, Wolff also discussed how the failure of 2022 might just set the stage for a big Silver Arrows comeback in 2023.

That seems to be an opinion shared by Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.

The seven-time world champion sat down for a Q&A with Mercedes before the winter break, and reflected on the 2022 campaign. It was Hamilton’s first winless season since joining F1, and he finished behind his Mercedes teammate — George Russell — for the first time since he finished behind Nico Rosberg back in 2016.

Like Wolff, Hamilton believes that last season was difficult, but it has the team set up for brighter days in the future:

I would say for our current team, in terms of the last 10 years, this has been the toughest year for everyone along with the most strengthening. There has been so much resistance, so much we have been up against, and I am thankful that we have. There are many people working here, along with many new people in the team, and this experience has been good for them too. When we win, there is a different gratitude now because it happened so often before.

In his discussion with Beyond the Grid, Wolff talked about how in sport, failure is critical. “I absolutely believe that you have to fail and get it wrong to prosper.” This is another belief that Hamilton seems to hold dear:

I never doubted that we would get there in the end, but there was lots of trial and error, and so much failure this year. There were times we brought upgrades and they didn’t work, and times we tried different things and it didn’t work. I tried so many things and failed so many times but through that you learn and grow. That’s what it’s been about this year. It’s been about failure, breaking down egos, strengthening our relationships, and strengthening our communications. From that perspective it’s been really empowering.

With respect to the car itself, both Wolff and Hamilton admit that the team started out the year behind the eight ball, with a car that was struggling on the track. But similar to trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin, Hamilton believes that Barcelona when things began to turn around. Speaking recently, Shovlin outlined how the Spanish Grand Prix was the start of the turnaround for the season. “Well, probably the one that will stick in the minds of the engineers is Barcelona, and Barcelona was the one where we made the biggest step in getting on top of the aero bouncing phenomenon.”

Hamilton shares that sentiment, to a point. “The first big step was Barcelona, that was our first hint of there being more potential in the car.”

But more progress was needed. Because in Hamilton’s mind, the Barcelona race was a bit of a false start. “It turned out to be a bit of a false positive; the car was good there but then the races afterwards were difficult. It was like a ghost was in the car and it kept coming back.”

In Hamilton’s mind, the rest of the European calendar, along with the Austin Grand Prix, was the true turning point. “But then there was France and that felt like a good step with our first double podium of the season. And then there was Austin, too, with the update we had working well.”

Still, Hamilton finished without a win this past season, and the gap between Red Bull and Mercedes grew as the Silver Arrows finished second in the Constructors’ Championship for the first time since 2013. Yet Hamilton remains excited about the season ahead, and pushing for another world title:

I’m definitely excited for 2023. These last few years have been so difficult for so many around the world, so many people struggling with the war and many other things. I hope something kicks us all into gear to understand that we need to be more compassionate and caring to each other and I am praying for that all the time. A new year to be better, a new year to climb, keep fighting and unite even more. And it’s another chance to fight for a World Championship.