Apparently, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was looking for redemption and hoping for a single-race win in a long time on his home soil in Silverstone. After all, the British Grand Prix has been one of the luckiest tracks for the seven-time champion. He has won a record eight times there. The other circuit, where he won eight races, is in Hungary. But Hamilton has been shockingly winless since last year. The previous season was the first year in the long and illustrious career of the 38-year-old racer, where he went winless. Hence, Hamilton would not like to repeat the same result this year.
Clearly, Lewis Hamilton is desperate to beat the current double-time champion Max Verstappen. The latter has won eight races so far this year. It has been a solid dominance of the Austrian team because of their RB19 car. They definitely have the fastest car on the grid, thanks to Adrian Newey, their chief technology officer and car designer. Now, to beat them, Mercedes is introducing new upgrades back to back in order to find success one way or another. Although, after McLaren’s impressive performance in Austria and Silverstone, Mercedes, too, thinks that the race has got tougher. And Lewis Hamilton feels they need to do more to beat McLaren and Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton Urges His Team That McLaren’s Surge Is A Wake-Up Call
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have not yet defeated Max Verstappen this season. But the team has earned five podiums so far, the most by any team after Red Bull this year. Apparently, the Mercedes boss Toto Wolff had mentioned before the British Grand Prix that the team would be happy if they got a podium finish there. That’s what they got as Hamilton finished at P3. But it is clear that the team is not focusing on competing against Red Bull at present. They plan to hold on to the second place somehow. But new challenges are emerging for Mercedes and Hamilton since the beginning of the season.
At first, it was Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin who surprised everybody as a title contender. But since the Austrian Grand Prix, Ferrari and McLaren burst onto the scene. Again in the Silverstone, McLaren’s Lando Norris beat Lewis Hamilton to earn a P2 finish. Oscar Piastri, another McLaren driver, also finished at P4. Evidently, team McLaren was very close to stealing away Hamilton’s podium finish in Silverstone. Citing their progress, Lewis Hamilton, after the race, accepted that it was a wake-up call for his team. Apparently, the MCL60 is a lookalike of the RB19, and the design has helped McLaren immensely. That is why Hamilton pointed out, “I’m happy for McLaren. But we need to do more as a team.”
Wolff And Hamilton Think Copying Red Bull’s Design Will Be A Push To The Right Direction
Lewis Hamilton believes that they had trouble tackling two Ferraris and an Aston Martin for a while, but now there are two McLarens out there. And now, it just got more challenging for the Brackley-based team. According to Mercedes boss too, “McLaren had a better car in Silverstone. Our tires caused us problems. They hold us efficiently on the hard tire and with a good pace on the straight line.” Perhaps both Wolff and Hamilton feel that it is better to copy Red Bull’s design regarding the side pods. That’s what McLaren did and, to a certain extent, Aston Martin too.