The two traits Hamilton wants carried over from unloved W13

After enjoying an unprecedented streak of F1 title success, Mercedes fell behind Red Bull and Ferrari in the constructors’ championship during a miserable 2022 campaign in which their W13 was dogged by performance issues. 

Mercedes hope their modified W14 challenger will not display the weaknesses of its predecessor and help the team get back into F1 title contention in 2023. 

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Asked what strengths of the W13 he wants to see in the W14, Hamilton, who is aiming to bounce back from his worst-ever F1 season by sealing a record eighth drivers’ crown, pinpointed two areas. 

“The only thing that we would want to keep would be... Our long run pace was good last year, our race pace was always strong,” he said. 

“So I would say that’s the only element we really want to carry on into this season. And also reliability. Those two are the things we want to hold on to. 

“But all the other stuff we want to reinvent, redesign and hopefully see a more efficient car.” 

Despite Mercedes’ shock struggles, the seven-time world champion - who is out of contract at the end of the year - has full belief in his team’s ability to return to competitiveness. 

“Everyone in the team wants to win, so there is a strategy, there is a plan,” Hamilton said. “It’s been explained to us in detail and I have full trust in the team. 

"It’s not until we get the car on the road and we figure out what it’s doing and where the limitations are, can we then steer the rudder and develop in that direction. 

“The great thing is we have two strong drivers with similar kinda  driving styles so it will be clear straight away, if there are issues, what those will be. 

"I think the guys understand the car to be able to deal with it. It’s good, I’m excited.”