Hamilton warns Red Bull sidepods could make Merc slower
Mercedes have accepted they will need to change their unconventional ‘zeropod’ design concept in response to their disastrous 2022 season and making a dreadful start to 2023.
Toto Wolff said he would have “no shame” if Mercedes’ revamped W14 challenger looks like a Red Bull amid speculation the eight-time constructors’ champions will replicate the sidepod approach taken by their rivals.
But seven-time world champion Hamilton stressed there is no guarantee that Red Bull’s solution will be the one-size-fits-all answer to make Mercedes more competitive.
"I think we have what we have, and we're going to continue to try to work on it and extract more from it, and we'll see how quick that can happen, or whether that's possible with the concept we have,” Hamilton said.
"And then in the short term we will start to find out whether or not we've got to make loads of big, drastic changes, I mean there are drastic changes which we will do.
"People keep talking about getting the new sidepods on the car but it's not as simple as that.
"You put the Red Bull sidepods on our car and it won't change a thing, it literally won't change a thing, it might even go slower.
"It's about aero characteristics, it's how the car is balanced through the corners.
"There's so many different elements that people of course would not know because they're not aerodynamicists and you can't see it - there's a lot more to it.”
The 38-year-old, who is yet to sign a contract extension with Mercedes, said his team’s decision to abandon their flawed car concept proved his concerns were right.
Hamilton’s latest remarks came after he made headlines following a disappointing season-opener in Bahrain by claiming Mercedes “didn’t listen” to his development suggestions.
"I'm one of those people that always likes to be right, but I'm not always right, but in this scenario I was right," the Briton said.
"So it was good, it was like, 'I told you’.”
