31 August 2023 , 06:00
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Lewis Hamilton dismissed the suggestion of tension between himself and his Mercedes team – but admitted there have been some "frustrations".
The Brit has been racing for the team for 10 years and enjoyed remarkable success during that time. But the Silver Arrows, and by extension Hamilton, are in the midst of a particularly difficult situation right now.
Hamilton will, for the third consecutive season, not win the drivers' title, having topped the standings in six of the previous seven campaigns. In 2021 he was able to fight tooth and nail against Max Verstappen, but both this season and last he has been powerless to stop the flying Dutchman.
The W13 fielded in 2022 was a failure with its eye-catching 'zeropod' design not paying off. Mercedes returned at the start of this season with another car which looked similar, and which also could not compete with Red Bull.
Hamilton's annoyance was obvious. And he even called out his team publicly, suggesting that his ideas for the car had not been listened to and that the decision-makers in that regard were ignoring their star driver.
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"I told them the issues that are with the car. I've driven so many cars in my life, so I know what a car needs, I know what a car doesn't need," he said. "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'."
Mercedes have made improvements since and Hamilton is hot on Fernando Alonso's heels to finish best of the rest behind the Red Bull drivers. Clarifying his previous irritation, he made it clear he and his team have a healthy relationship, even if there is not always consensus over the best way forward.
He said: "I think in the heated and intense sport that we're living in, of course there's frustrations on both sides all of the time, What's important is you just continue to be open and communicate about those. You're constantly growing through those conversations. I think the most important thing is to be aligned on where you're going.
"There's no doubt that everyone in this team wants to win. We've been caught off guard about the cost cap and just the direction of the new regulations, and you just can't copy and paste and do something different.
"It has to evolve and manoeuvre into a different direction. It just takes time. Has it been quick enough? Maybe not, but the good thing is we've now sat down, we've now said, 'Okay, we're more open minded, this is maybe the direction we need to go so let's explore it and let's get on top of it for next year'."