Mercedes-Benz

LEWIS HAMILTON is raring to go to get back behind the wheel and says he is planning to stay with Mercedes for longer.The 38-year-old helped launch Mercedes’ challenger for 2023 – the striking all-black W14.
Lewis Hamilton can’t wait to get back behind the wheelCredit: Getty
Hamilton is out of contract with Mercedes at the end of the upcoming seasonCredit: PA
Mercedes have launched their new car for 2023Credit: Mercedes-Benz AG
Team chief Toto Wolff revealed the car is mainly unpainted carbon fibre in order to save weightCredit: Mercedes-Benz AG
This season marks his 17th in F1 and with his contract with Mercedes set to expire at the end of the season, he has again hinted that he wants to remain with the team.
Hamilton said: “I know I’ve been here [at Mercedes] a long time. It’s the combined energy of all the individuals in the team.
“I love being a part of a team that’s working towards a common goal. I continue to love racing, I think that’s never going to change as it is part of my DNA.
“I always believe that I can get better. I always love that challenge of the mental and the physical element of it and having to deep dive and see how you can extract more performance.”
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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff confirmed contract talks to extend Hamilton have opened – but so far they have had just one conversation.
He said: “We have done a few of these contracts in the past and they change little from iteration to iteration, so it is not complex apart from the obvious – terms
“We have had a first chat but I don’t want to commit to any timeline because it’s not important for him or for us. He has a full year to run and we will find the right time.”
Speaking about Mercedes’ new car, Hamilton added: “It’s not the same car every year. You know, it’s always changing. There’s always new tools, always a new logbook they have to get used to.
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“And I love that, so you know, I am planning to stay there longer.”
Meanwhile Wolff has revealed the car – which is an evolution from last year’s model with no sidepods – is in black to save weight.
The bodywork is mainly unpainted carbon fibre to save grams or excess weight.
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Wolff added: “When you look at where the story of the Silver Arrows came from, it is that the Mercedes was put on track and was painted white.
“But it was overweight and they scratched off the paint and it ended up in aluminium and the car made the weight.
“We really tried to get the weight off the car so we committed to [reducing] the grams by leaving the car in matte carbon.
“So history repeats itself, just in this case it is modern materials like carbon and not aluminium. It just came together and it feels right.”
Meanwhile, George Russell says the team’s goal for this season is simply to win the championship.
Russell, who turned 24 on the day of the launch, said: “Knowing how last season panned out and the challenges we had with the car, I think we can be pretty proud of the job we did.
“There were a lot of positives to take away from that season. The reliability of the car was great. The strategy on many occasions was really, really strong.
“In the personal learnings we all went through and the technical learnings, that’s all gone into [this year’s] car.
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“We’re all here to win. It’s as simple as that. The motivation and the fire within our factory is immense, because people don’t want a repeat of what happened in 2022.
“So we’re ready for it and we’re motivated to go out there and fight.”
George Russell and Hamilton are eyeing world title glory in 2023Credit: Reuters More

LEWIS HAMILTON has teased his 2023 Formula One helmet design as the excitement builds before the new season.And the Mercedes car he will be driving throughout this year is set to be unveiled imminently.
Lewis Hamilton is preparing for the 2023 Formula One seasonCredit: Reuters
Hamilton, 38, is eyeing a record-breaking eighth world drivers’ championship.
And the F1 superstar took to Instagram to give his 31.4million followers a glimpse of his outfit.
The British legend posted a close-up snap of a yellow-and-purple helmet with trim in blue and red.
The colour scheme appears to be a blend of the last two seasons.
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In 2021, he had a mainly-purple helmet while last year’s model was predominantly yellow.
Hamilton simply added “23” – in a nod to the upcoming season which kicks off in Bahrain on March 5.
The seven-time world champ has a staggering SIX records in his sight this year to cement his status as F1’s GOAT.
That includes taking the outright lead for world championships, most wins at the same Grand Prix, most poles at the same Grand Prix and first driver to win a race after his 300th start.
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And Hamilton has clearly been working hard in the gym to get himself in the best possible condition to rival Max Verstappen once again.
The Stevenage star – who did not win a single race last season – posted selfies showing off his ripped abs following his off-season exploring Antarctica.
While fans wait in eager expectation for the Mercedes car design for 2023, others have already taken a pop at Red Bull for their ‘new’ livery.
Specsavers were among the many to pile in on the reigning constructors’ champions with their RB19 car for this year virtually identical to the RB18 paintjob from 2022.
Hamilton gave fans a glimpse of his 2023 helmetCredit: Instagram
His helmet last year was a striking yellow colourCredit: AFP / Getty More

VALTERRI BOTTAS has opened up about the five seasons he spent as Lewis Hamilton’s team-mate at Mercedes. The Finnish driver admitted he found the desperation to beat the seven-time world champion to a title “exhausting”.
Valterri Bottas has conceded that competing with Lewis Hamilton was toughCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Bottas, 33, joined Mercedes for the 2017 season to replace Nico Rosberg, who retired after beating Hamilton a year earlier.
The driver, now with Alfa Romeo, finished second and third two times each in the F1 standings behind Hamilton.
He told journalist Maria Veitola it was tough to come to terms with the fact the Brit was better than him.
Bottas said: “For such a competitive nature, it was hard to accept.
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“It was only in the last year that I could accept that Lewis Hamilton was a better driver.
“I always wondered how I could beat him and win the world championship.
“It was quite an exhausting five years. I wanted to win everything right away, and then when it didn’t happen, it was hard to accept.”
Mercedes chief Toto Wolff previously said he thought it was correct to let Bottas go at the end of the 2021 season.
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Wolff said: “I think that it was a good moment for Valtteri to leave the team because the pressure was enormous on him and he didn’t want to be a wingman.
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“I think having released him from that pressure, now he’s racing with Alfa, it is completely different and he seems also happier rather than this pressure cooker at Mercedes.”
Bottas also recently opened up about suffering with an eating disorder earlier in his career.
He was in a slower car last season with the Italian constructors and finished 10th in last term’s standings.
Hamilton is now partnered by George Russell at Mercedes. More

LEWIS HAMILTON has revealed he often doubts whether he still has what it takes to win another Formula 1 world title.The Brit, 38, sits alongside Michael Schumacher as the most decorated racer in the sport’s history with seven championships to his name.
Lewis Hamilton endured a winless season in 2022 for the first time in his careerCredit: Reuters
He came within a whisker of a landmark eighth title in 2021, only to be overtaken by Max Verstappen on the last lap of the final race in Abu Dhabi.
Then last year, Hamilton endured a difficult season as he finished sixth in the standings behind Mercedes team-mate George Russell and a huge 214 points adrift of champion Verstappen.
He also failed to win a race in the entire season for the first time in his 15-year F1 career.
Hamilton will be hoping for improvement in 2023, but admits he does sometimes question his own ability.
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Speaking on the Jay Shetty podcast, he said: “There are days where I do feel like I’m not enough, there are days where I don’t feel like I’m good enough.
“People can be like, ‘Yeah, but you’ve won seven world titles’ but still there are days where I question ‘have you still got it, can you still be the best?’
“I’m having that conversation with myself often. But my dad’s also there. Sometimes I’ll say something that’s maybe not the most positive.
“And he’ll be the one there just reaffirming ‘you’ve got this, believe in yourself’.
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“It’s so important for people to have people like that around them. I support myself, I surround myself with other positive people as well.
“I think it’s all our job to lift everyone up. I want everyone around me to win, and to become the best versions of themselves.”
The first race of the 2023 season takes place in Bahrain on March 5.
And Hamilton will be hoping he can make the perfect start to the campaign by adding to his 103 F1 victories.
The Stevenage-born driver has won more Grands Prix than anyone else, with Schumacher the closest to him on 91.
Hamilton’s existing deal with Mercedes expires at the end of 2023.
But the Silver Arrows are confident he will pen an extension to keep him with the team for the foreseeable future. More