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Mercedes’ Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin says “the fact that we haven’t had a competitive car made it difficult for Lewis, because he is a driver who is just born to win races”.
After two years of difficulties, Mercedes is finally climbing its way back to the top of the field.
Mercedes’ Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin says that the difficult times, after years of success, took a toll on Lewis Hamilton and the whole team.
“I mean, it’s inevitable, and I think the whole team has had a period of that,” the Briton said.
“When we launched our third bad car in a row, we’re all wondering, why have we made that mistake? And how have we done that again?
“So it does have you questioning what you’re doing, and I think the fact that we haven’t had a competitive car made it difficult for Lewis, because he is a driver who is just born to win races.
“And it’s been a tough few years for him having had so many difficult results. It’s not like he’s had all bad races, because he’s got George [Russell] – who’s an incredibly fast driver and a very difficult person to beat – and Lewis has had his fair share of races where he’s been ahead of George.
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“It’s just that we weren’t able to win because we didn’t have the car to win.”
With Lewis going to Ferrari next year, Shov says Mercedes wants to finish their partnership on a high.
“When Lewis announced he was going to Ferrari, all of us felt like: ‘Well, let’s make this year one to remember, and let’s go out with something to celebrate,’”
“So the entire team was hoping that this would be a year that we could get back to winning races and have some results because it would be a real shame if that absolutely incredible chapter of Lewis’ career that is at Mercedes, if that were to sort of finish with three winless seasons on the trot.
“We’re happy for him, we’re happy for the team, but there’s nothing that we want more than for that chapter with Lewis to finish with a happy ending,” Shovlin concluded.
