© Wolfgang Wilhelm for Mercedes-Benz AG
Lewis Hamilton recently said Mercedes didn’t listen to him when choosing a direction for its 2023 car. Toto Wolff concedes they’ve made a mistake.
After Mercedes’ poor performance at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton said the team didn’t listen to him when he told them what he believes needs to be done with the car over the winter break.
Ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Lewis said that he might not have chosen the right words in his criticism, but after the race he reiterated that he believes he was right regarding the car.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff confirms that Lewis “had a different idea” about how the W14 should be developed over the winter break.
“Lewis had a different idea,” the Austrian said.
“But in the end, we all decided together to remain faithful to this concept, encouraged by the good results at the end of last year.
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“We did everything to make our concept work because, based on our data, it should have worked. But now we have confirmed that we were simply wrong.
“The two fastest cars of us [Red Bull and Aston Martin] generate downforce in a similar way and look very different from the W14.
“Our aim is to make the right decisions for the long term. For now, we’ll run with the best possible package we can handle. Whether or not you have tight bellies is irrelevant.
“We just need more downforce,” Wolff concluded.
