Sir Lewis Hamilton will not allow his head to drop after a challenging start to the 2022 season with Mercedes.
The Silver Arrows have struggled to adapt to the new technical regulations which have seen the return of ground effect aerodynamics, and the subsequent “porpoising” and bouncing they have suffered on the straight has cost them around a second to Ferrari and Red Bull.
The result of that is a failure to win a race yet this season, and Mercedes, through a combination of Hamilton and team-mate George Russell, have been on the podium five times in nine races.
READ: Mercedes to bring upgrades to British GP in bid to close up to Ferrari and Red Bull
The 24-year-old leads both the qualifying and race intra-team battles, proving the exceptional talent that got him up to the German outfit, so this has not been the easiest season of Hamilton’s career to date.
As the team attempt to solve their issues and get back to the top, the 37-year-old is working better than ever with his engineers and mechanics in a bid to help the eight-time champions return to winning ways.
“I don’t look at my season too often and assess, in a sense of judgement. I mean, I’m working as hard as I can, staying positive,” he said.
“We’ve come off the back of a difficult year and I’d like to think I’m the best team-mate I’ve ever been, to George, but also to all the engineers, all the mechanics and everyone working at the factory, and trying to keep everyone’s energy high.
“I am trying a lot of different experimental things on the car to help us get the data and move forwards.
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“Whilst, yes, it’s not been ideal on some weekends, it’s often set us back because we lost a session or two but that’s okay because eventually we’ll get there and I’m proud to have been a part of that process.”
There would be few better occasions than the British Grand Prix for Hamilton and Russell to better Mercedes’ best result of the season in P3, and there is a general anticipation that the smoother track surface in Silverstone might just help them to do that.