Lewis Hamilton admits he is ‘counting down the days’

Mercedes have promised a rolling slate of upgrades across the coming races, as they look to re-enter the championship battle after a rough 2022 season.

Lewis Hamilton is not trying to conceal his excitement ahead of the introduction of a string of updates to the W14, as Mercedes look to become competitive once again.

The Silver Arrows are in a challenging period at the moment, having failed to adapt to the new era of regulations and finding themselves well behind rivals Red Bull.

2022 saw Mercedes secure only one victory across the whole season, while 2023 has seen the team only pick up one podium in four races.

Hamilton hasn’t held back in his criticism of the W14’s design, openly claiming he wasn’t listened to during its development. 

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After Hamilton demanded accountability for the poor design, Mercedes made a change in their technical team, bringing James Allison back as technical director and moving Mike Elliott to the position of Chief Technical Officer. 

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has promised that the “layout” of the W14 will change, something that is sure to please Hamilton.

“I think we knew already from early on that we would have quite a few races until this upgrade, so it’s been just counting the days down or counting the weeks down,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.  

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“We don’t currently quite know exactly how good the upgrade will be, but we know it will be a start of something new for us.”

The most significant upgrade to the W14 is due to come at Imola, meaning Hamilton only has to make it through Miami next week before he gets to experience the revamped design.

Given Hamilton finished in P6 in Baku, his lowest result of the year, he will certainly be hoping for a stronger performance in Miami.