Hamilton explains Mercedes’ slow F1 recovery: ‘It is going to take time’

Despite bringing major upgrades in recent races, Mercedes are still lagging behind current F1 pacesetters Red Bull, who have claimed all 10 race victories so far this season.

While Mercedes have made small gains following the introduction of a revamped W14 in Monaco, both Hamilton and teammate George Russell have admitted more performance is needed if the team is going to start fighting for wins on merit. 

Asked why it is taking Mercedes so long to address the problems they are facing in their bid to close the gap to Red Bull, the seven-time world champion replied: “You are preaching to the choir! 

"The thing we can't see is the airflow throughout the car. That is just limited when you look in the wind tunnel because there's only a certain amount you can move the car.

"There's simulations with the new rules that we have, and all the new tools we have had to create to understand the flow structures underneath the car.

"All those vortices would blow your mind if you saw what's happening underneath the car, which is a lot different to the previous generations of cars. Working through that just takes time.

"And obviously, you're very limited with resources as well. So you have to be careful which decisions you make.

"If you go full steam ahead in one direction, you could lose weeks of development and it could be tenths of performance, so you have to have to be very methodical in the way they go through that process. I wish it was faster but unfortunately, it is not.”

After being outperformed by McLaren at the British Grand Prix, Toto Wolff admitted Mercedes will have “no choice” but to switch their full focus onto their 2024 challenger soon. 

Hamilton revealed Mercedes have “things in the pipeline” for future races but doesn’t expect to make the “sort of leap” McLaren enjoyed with their recent upgrade package any time soon.

“Things are in the pipeline for many races to come,” he explained. “That’s always the case because it takes time to build things.

"James is great. We've got a really good relationship. He knows when to be stern. He’s probably never actually soft, to be honest.

"We had a great meeting just the other day where we had all the heads of departments within the room, George and I, and just making sure we're on the same page.

"There was great communication and we have 100% faith in them. I think, just as a group, we will get to where we need to be. It is just going to take some time."