LEWIS GOES BRACK TO THE FUTURE
LEWIS HAMILTON has described his return to the factory as “emotional” and “surreal” as Mercedes unveiled his final car before moving to Ferrari.
The seven-time world champion signed a new two-year contract with the Brackley-based Silver Arrows midway through last season.
But with the team failing to close in on rivals Red Bull, Hamilton has opted for a change of scenery, signing with Ferrari (below) for 2025.
Speaking at the launch of Mercedes’ 2024 car (above), Hamilton said: “It’s been emotional. It’s very surreal to be here given I came here in 2013, so 11 years with the team, starting my 12th and it is such a privilege to work with a group of people where you see the work they’re doing over winter.
“You see a car come together at the beginning of the year – it’s the most exciting part of the season, really.”
The Brit won six of his seven titles with Mercedes and is hoping to make his final year one to remember.
With the W15, Mercedes have opted for a major shake-up in terms of design philosophy. The 2022 and 2023 cars proved unpopular with both drivers and produced inconsistent results on track.
“We got it wrong with the new regulations,” admitted team principal Toto Wolff. “But when you will be looking back in 10 years or longer and you’re going to read that we finished third eight times in a row, and then third and second in the constructor championship, it will look like it was a respectable result and wasn’t so bad.
“But this is not counting another team and another driver winning most of the races. So our aim is to consolidate our positions towards Ferrari and Mclaren and sometimes Aston Martin and be at the forward part of that group, but at the same time trying to race at the very front.”
Wolff led a deep dive into Mercedes’ operations over the off-season and added: “What is it that we got wrong? Why did the virtual world not correlate with the real world?
“And we found some clues, into this direction, we tried to eliminate as many as possible variables.
“The buzz that is in the company is something that I haven’t seen for so many years.”
Hamilton and Wolff will find out more about their 2024 car when pre-season testing starts in Bahrain next Wednesday.