Lewis Hamilton makes ALARMING Mercedes W14 upgrade admission

Lewis Hamilton photographed at the Saudi Arabian GP in 2022 — Photo: © LAT Images

Mercedes

Hamilton makes ALARMING Mercedes W14 upgrade admission

Mercedes have closed the gap to Red Bull following an impressive weekend in Canada

Harry Smith

Wednesday 21 June 2023 07:57

Lewis Hamilton has claimed that the upgraded version of the W14 doesn't feel like a 'huge difference' to the car that Mercedes started the year with.

The 38-year-old claimed his second successive podium finish in Montreal, finishing third following an intense battle with career-long rival Fernando Alonso.

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Mercedes have taken a step forward relative to Red Bull in recent weeks thanks to their upgrade package, introduced at the Monaco Grand Prix last month.

The upgraded W14 did away with the 'zeropod' design concept in order to pursue a more conventional design path for the rest of 2023 and beyond.

Hamilton managing hopes

Speaking in the post-race press conference in Montreal, Hamilton explained: "In truth, it doesn't feel a huge difference to the beginning of the year.

"There are some elements of the car which do feel different and obviously with the upgrade but it's just simply just have a little bit more downforce on the car.

"But the characteristics of the car are very, very similar to what we had earlier on in the year.

"And so we need to...for the future, for the next year's car, you need to take a lot of these different things off and change them for sure."