The rumors are picking up steam.
Last week, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton claimed that his Mercedes team ignored him when creating the 2023 Formula One car.
Before finishing fifth in the opening Bahrain Grand Prix race on Sunday, the Englishman told reporters last week that Mercedes was headed in the wrong direction.
“Last year, there were things I told them. I said the issues that are with the car,” Hamilton told BBC Radio 5 Live’s “Chequered Flag” podcast.
“I’ve driven so many cars in my life, so 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’,” he said.
“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.”
Hamilton, 38, holds the record for most victories in Formula One history with 103. At the conclusion of this season, Hamilton’s contract with Mercedes will expire, and while he consistently refutes claims that he would leave the team owing to its poor results, speculation that he might join Ferrari has gained momentum.
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Hamilton told the BBC that Mercedes, whose streak of eight straight constructors’ titles came to an end last year, still had time to turn things around.
“We’re still multi-world champions, you know? It’s just we haven’t got it right this time. We didn’t get it right last year. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get it right moving forwards,” he said.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell only managed a P5 and P7 finish for Mercedes in the season-opening race in Bahrain, and even Charles Leclerc’s withdrawal from the competition couldn’t save them from misery. Even more recently, the squad apologized to its supporters for its terrible performance.