Signs of promise showed in Australia, as Hamilton took advantage of late red flag chaos to finish a close second to Verstappen. Back-to-back podiums in Spain and Canada, followed by a third place finish in Singapore and second place finish in Mexico City solidified Hamilton’s presence on the grid as a continued threat to Red Bull’s supremacy.
Conversely, George Russell struggled. Two sole podium finishes were the only highlights in a year of missed opportunity — the ultimate low points being his crash from third in Singapore which put Mercedes race to second in the constructors’ at stake but the runner-up spot was eventually sealed in Abu Dhabi.
2024: Continuing to play catch-up
Technical director James Allison has said that Mercedes has “set a pretty ambitious programme” for its championship hopeful and the car will feature a new front and rear suspension, new chassis and new gearbox. This falls in line with a brand new development plan which moves away from a ‘zero sidepod’ design but is still different from Red Bull’s winning formula.
Hamilton added: “I think we have understood the [2024] car so much better. We have developed great tools in the background. So naturally, I’m hopeful. But I’m not going to hold my breath.”
Mercedes-AMG 2023 F1 driver line-up
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| Lewis Hamilton | George Russell |
- Hamilton holds a contract until the end of the 2023 season, with options to extend
- Russell is seen as Mercedes-AMG’s long-term project, and thought to be committed to a deal until the end of 2024
- Mick Schumacher will act as reserve driver for the 2023 season
Key personnel
Team Principal: Toto Wolff
Whether it’s first-banging and irate finger-pointing in the garage, or simply winding up Christian Horner with irreverent comments to pundits, Toto Wolff has become one of the most recognisable people in the grand prix paddock. But don’t let any of that fool you, he’s also one of the most determined to get Mercedes-AMG back on top of the pile. Repeat winning hasn’t diminished his appetite for it, and he’s clear in his message.
Wolff himself said about this forthcoming year: “I believe we’ve taken some proactive steps to close that gap. Is it going to be good enough? I don’t know. But we’re going to see it in testing and then in the first race in Bahrain.
“I’m super excited. I’d like to start going now. It’s the stopwatch that’s going to tell us what job we’ve done.”
Race engineer: Peter Bonnington
Not to be confused with the lead singer from U2, this Bono is far more effective on a race weekend, as he gears up for an 11th straight season as Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer. And it’s an important partnership, with Hamilton equalling Michael Schumacher’s record for the most seasons spent with any single F1 team this year, and he’s had Bono’s voice in his ear for all 200 of his Mercedes-AMG grand prix starts.
“I’m incredibly grateful for Bono. I’ve had an amazing journey with him, I think we’ve got one of the longest, if not the longest standing driver-engineer partnerships that there’s been, and he’s been hugely integral to my success,” Hamilton said.
“We’ve had an amazing journey together, we’ve supported each other on and off-track, through good and bad times, and I love working with Bono; he’s like a brother to me, a brother from another mother.”
That sort of bond could prove key to Hamilton’s revival after what must have been a hugely demotivating 2022 campaign, compounded by it coming right off the back of the events of Abu Dhabi 2021. How long will it be until we hear those familiar words “Get in there, Lewis!” crackle over the radio again?