Lewis Hamilton admits there have been times he has doubted himself during the 2023 Formula 1 season.
“Ultimately,” Hamilton says, “when you have difficult seasons like this, there are always going to be moments when you’re like: ‘Is it me, or is it the car? Do you still have it? Has it gone?’
“Because you’re missing that, you know… when the magic happens, when everything comes together, the car and you, and that spark, it’s extraordinary. And that’s what you’re in the search for.”
It seems quite the admission from anyone engaged in a sport in which confidence in your ability to take yourself and a high-tech piece of machinery to the limit at speeds that reach over 200mph is so fundamental. Let alone the most successful driver in history. But Hamilton dismisses the idea it is anything extraordinary.
“I’m only human,” says the 38-year-old. “If anyone in the world tells you they don’t have those things, they’re in denial. We’re all human beings.”
‘I asked for changes, and they weren’t done’
Hamilton is talking in an extensive interview to mark the end of the season, and he’s in an expansive, revealing mood.
It has been a long, tough season for a driver and team previously so accustomed to success, and his second in a row without a single victory. He says he knew that would be the case from the first moment he drove this year’s car.
The Mercedes engineers decided for this season to stick with their unique car-design philosophy – against both Hamilton’s wishes and the wider trend along the pit lane. And Hamilton knew as soon as he drove the car at Silverstone in February that they had made a mistake.
“I remember it feeling exactly the same,” he says as he compares it to last year. “And that definitely was not a great feeling. I really had high hopes.”
He even had concerns before that, it turns out.
“In February, when we do a download of where the car is going, I was a little more apprehensive, because the previous year it was like: ‘The car is amazing, it’s unique, no-one’s going to have anything like it.’ And then we get to the first test…
“So, I was a little bit more cautious when I was listening, and I was like: ‘We will see.’ And then the car had all these problems. I just knew it was going to be a long year.”
At the first race in Bahrain, the extent of Mercedes’ issues soon became obvious, and as early as Friday practice – before even a competitive session had taken place – Hamilton said the team were “on the wrong track”.
Looking back, he says: “I’m sure there were frustrations, because I had asked for certain changes, and they weren’t done.”
His reaction, he says, was to have “big, big talks” with the team. “No-one knew exactly what the problem was,” he adds. “No-one knew how to fix it.
“Having the experience of the previous year, I just applied myself, in terms of digging down, sitting with the guys. We were having much better meetings.
“I was able to stay a lot more positive during the year and be like: ‘It’s going to be a long season, but let’s not give up. Let’s keep pushing towards getting the maximum out of the car, whatever that may be.’
“I think for this year they thought: ‘The fundamentals are good and we just have to go here.’ And it was not the case. That’s why I was frustrated in February, because they hadn’t made the changes I’d asked for.
“But we didn’t have a North Star necessarily at the beginning of the year, knowing exactly where we need to work towards. It’s been kind of a zig-zag line trying to frickin’ get to where we need to be.
“Every now and again, something positive happens. You’re like: ‘OK, that’s it.’ And then it shifts, so the goalpost is always moving, which is typical.”
