How Hamilton's tone has shifted after worst-ever F1 season

Hamilton endured his worst-ever F1 season in 2022, slumping to sixth in the drivers’ championship after failing to score a pole position or race victory.

Mercedes’ W13 was simply not at the level of Ferrari or Red Bull after they found that their unique design philosophy resulted in a number of unintended issues such as porpoising.

It was a shock for Hamilton, who was very bullish going into the season following his controversial title defeat to Max Verstappen in Abu Dhabi.

Ahead of last season, he said: “If you think what you saw at the end of last year was my best, wait till you see this year.”

12 months on, Hamilton has a more cautious approach.

"Different, definitely different,” Hamilton said after the launch of Mercedes’ W14. “I’ve had a great break and a great journey with my family and I feel very refreshed after the time off. 

“It’s a really exciting day, to see the car come together this past week, and get to drive it again this week, for the first time. 

“I won’t be as bullish as last year, I would say I’m more cautious, that whatever we’re faced with, we have the best team to deal with whatever we come across. 

“Hopefully we’ll hit the ground running but it’s not always the case and I think we showed last year that whatever we’re faced with, we can recover, so that’s what we’ll try to do this year.”

Hamilton will be in action when pre-season testing gets underway on Thursday in Bahrain.