F1: Lewis Hamilton warns looming upgrades won’t be magic cure for Mercedes

The Silver Arrows will overhaul their W14 ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in May

Lewis Hamilton has warned that Mercedes’ looming major upgrades will not reap immediate benefits.

The Silver Arrows have delayed their car overhaul until next month’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola but the seven-time world champion insists it will not suddenly catapult them up the grid.

He said: “It will be the start of a new path for us. At the core, it’s still the same car but it’s part of the path to getting where we want to be. We’re not going to hit the ground running and be where we wanted to be at the start of the season.

“We’re not making crazy ground. It takes time to progress in the right direction. But I’m excited for it.”

Hamilton has struggled with the handling of the W14 all season long but surprised himself with a second-place finish behind Max Verstappen at the last race in Australia.

Tempering expectations: Lewis Hamilton insists Mercedes will not be catapulted up the grid
Getty Images

The 38-year-old said he hoped to be towards the front of the grid at this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

“The last race was really great for us – we worked really hard to get that result,” he said in Baku. “It won’t be easy to do [again]. Ferrari will be quick, Red Bull will be quick and the Aston Martins. We hope to be in the mix.”

Since Melbourne, Mercedes have undergone one major change with James Allison returning as technical director in a surprise move. And Hamilton said the decision would only bolster the team’s chances in 2023 and beyond.

“James has always been a part of his team, with his focus a little bit on another area before this,” he said. “Having him step back in to support is only going to strengthen the team going forward. He’s got an amazing amount of experience.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in