Lewis Hamilton to get exactly what he wants from Mercedes after complaints

Lewis Hamilton is set to benefit from ‘fundamental’ changes to Mercedes’ 2024 vehicle after the Brit slammed his own team’s design department. Hamilton and George Russell have struggled for consistency in their W13 and W14 cars over the last two years.

Earlier this season, Hamilton offered some home truths to Mercedes’ design team, telling them they had made mistakes, had not listened to his advice, and needed to show more accountability. And it appears that the seven-time world champion will drive in a better car in 2024 – should he remain with the team.

In a March interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, Hamilton said: “Last year, there were things I told them. I said the issues that are with the car. I’ve driven so many cars in my life. I know what a car needs. I know what a car doesn’t need. I think it’s really about accountability.

“It’s about owning up and saying, ‘Yeah, you know what? We didn’t listen to you. It’s not where it needs to be and we’ve got to work’.

“We’ve got to look into the balance through the corners, look at all the weak points and just huddle up as a team. That’s what we do. We’re still [multi-]world champions, you know? Just haven’t got it right this time. Didn’t get it right last year. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get it right moving forwards.”

Mercedes are finally set to heed Hamilton’s advice, though, with Wolff promising ‘fundamental’ changes to next year’s car. The Austrian insists a major overhaul will keep within Formula One’s tight spending restrictions.

Wolff said: “We have set up a huge organisation in our financial department of 46 people, that monitors the cost cap down to the last screw. We look at that trend of our spend during all of the year and what we’ve done is basically allocate resources to various projects.

“We’ve stayed below that line all year last year, and we’re still below that line this year and that is considering a normal development switch for next year. This is still pretty much on track.

“The good thing is that we are constantly learning about what the car is doing. There are going to be some fundamental design changes for next year, but it’s not that we’re building stuff.