© Stephen Reuss for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
By Adrian Mann
When Mercedes introduced its big upgrade for the W14 at the Monaco Grand Prix, the times in free practice were kind of underwhelming. Not only that, but the whole weekend was kind of underwhelming for Mercedes. Seemingly…
One thing I noticed immediately was the fact that even when Lewis Hamilton‘s words about Mercedes’ pace were not overly optimistic, he didn’t seem truly troubled. He was kind of… smiling. For most of 2022 and the first half of 2023, Lewis didn’t smile as much as he used to in previous years. In fact, he seemed… well… troubled.
And that’s completely understandable. When he realized that Mercedes’ car is simply not going to be able to challenge for the championship, when he realized that the team was going in what he perceived as the wrong direction, there was not a lot to smile about. Especially after coming off a run of Mercedes’ eight years at the top of Formula 1.
There has been a lot of talk from the media about Lewis’ motivation through this period, but I believe his motivation was intact, it was just that in his media appearances he came off as somewhat downbeat. And understandably so. But, something changed in Monaco. Although the results were not showing any significant improvement, Lewis was visibly more cheerful. He was smiling more.
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This continued in Spain. Although after FP2, Lewis said it’s going to be a struggle to get into the top 10, he did not seem as troubled as he did before. To me that was a clear indication that he knows something that maybe we don’t. On Sunday, though, Lewis had a lot to smile about, as the W14 seemed to perform better than at any other point this year, and the results reflected that – Lewis finished the race in P2, and George in P3. Then everybody in the team started openly stating that Mercedes’ new development direction is a success.
Lewis’ performance this year has been superb, but unfortunately he is being limited by Mercedes’ still flawed machinery. The upgrade is slowly changing this, as the Briton is now capable of fighting at the top of the field. Maybe not against Red Bull just yet, but against Aston Martin and Ferrari certainly. And now, Lewis seems to be back to his old more cheerful self. He knows Mercedes is heading in the right direction, so he is not too bothered by the results themselves. He is smiling more, and he seems to be enjoying race weekends again.
And that’s the thing with Lewis, he is not motivated by winning alone, he is motivated by the progress, by going forward. Mercedes may not be where they want to be, but they are on their way to getting there. Lewis’ smile told me the journey to recovery has begun, and with him as motivated as ever, I think Mercedes fans are in for a fun conclusion to the season. And then next year, hopefully, the fight for the championship can begin again.
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