Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton believes that every team on the circuit, barring his own and Ferrari, have blatantly copied the Red Bull design from 2022 ahead of the upcoming season.
Hamilton argued that Mercedes would never go down that path as the Silver Arrows have their “own mind” and that the engineering team currently part of the Brackley-based outfit would “never steal” ideas from a rival.
“Of course, you can see that some of the cars are approaching what a Red Bull might look like. Perhaps with the exception of Ferrari,” Hamilton said.
“I don’t think we’ve ever been a team that copied other people. We’ve always had our own mind and have always been a team that’s incredibly creative and innovative and likes to do it our way. And I think that’s worked in the past.”
Not everyone at Mercedes shares Hamilton’s sentiments
Funnily enough, Mercedes themselves had hinted that they could be inclined to copy Red Bull’s design last season after completely messing up on their own design during pre-season.
Even Mercedes teammate George Russell had claimed that “nothing was off the table” with respect to Mercedes looking for inspiration from their rivals across the grid.
Mercedes Technical Director Mike Elliott went as far as to say that it would be silly for the team not to accept that “they got it wrong” last season regarding their design and that they were actively looking at Red Bull’s solution to the 2022 regulations.
However, it seems like any alterations that Mercedes made to its car during the off-season with Red Bull’s design in mind are subtle enough not to be noticed on first glance.
The Mercedes W14 seems eerily similar to the W13 in terms of design, with subtle changes to the side pods and engine cover.
The team has reverted to a black livery not purely for the style it brings, rather for the weight it has helped them shave off from their challenger.
Mercedes duo Hamilton and Russell will be hoping that it performs significantly better despite its uncanny resemblance to a car that the team will be hoping to forget in a jiffy.
It was, after all, a highly disappointing campaign for the team and Hamilton on a personal note.
The campaign proved to be the first time in his career where Hamilton failed to win a single race.
Although teammate Russell did manage to win his maiden Grand Prix in Brazil, the car was just not good enough through the course of the season despite showing improvement in the second half.
Hamilton cautiously tapers expectations before test drive
Hamilton was, therefore, a touch skeptical about the performance that he would be able to extract from the new challenger.
He confessed that he was extremely excited at the launch even last year, but was in for a rude surprise when he actually got into the car.
He is hopeful his team’s engineers have not made the same mistakes again.
“Last year we arrived and thought ‘damn, that was fast’ but it wasn’t, not with all the problems we had,” Hamilton said.
“And then we come into a new season with a car that looks similar in many ways, because some elements are really difficult to change but you just have to have faith in it the engineers have, and I have.
“I hope that the car has the characteristics we require when we run it. But if not, then we will find a way. quotes should always start with quote marks
“I think it’s the job of engineers and designers to find solutions. So we’re on ready for anything that could happen.”