After the epic rivalry between Mercedes and Red Bull reached its crescendo in 2021, many expected it to resume in 2022. However, it turned out quite the opposite, as the Silver Arrows, at no point, came even close to challenging the Austrian team for any of the two championships. Also, Lewis Hamilton, for the first time in his F1 career, failed to register a single win throughout the season. Now the first signs from three days of testing and the first two practice sessions reveal that they haven’t made much progress. Hamilton himself admitted that they haven’t progressed as they expected to.

After having a miserable 2022 season, finishing 7th in the standings, Aston Martin has surprised one and all. Fernando Alonso even managed the quickest time in the 2nd practice session on Friday, leaving reigning champion Max Verstappen behind. The Silverstone-based team could pose a serious challenge to Red Bull and possibly dethrone Mercedes from the top 3 spots in the championship standings.

Speaking after Friday’s practice sessions, as quoted by Motorsport Turkiye, Hamilton said, “This situation is difficult for everyone. I think no one on the team wants to be in this situation and I think absolutely no one on the team deserves to be in this situation because everyone continues to work very hard.” [Translated using Google]

“Everyone is working very bravely and thoughtfully, but we are on the wrong track. So we have to keep working and find a way to put ourselves on the right track. But for now, we are far from the top names.”

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After this, the 7x champion left a cryptic message for the team.

Lewis Hamilton is unsure whether Mercedes is sporting the right concept in the 2023 car

Despite the depressing early signs, Hamilton remains hopeful of making the required tweaks to the car to close the gap with the rivals. However, he isn’t too sure if they are carrying the right concept, which is probably holding back their much-needed progress.

He told, “I have to be hopeful, I have to believe. I think we improved very well over the year last season, but last season the difference was not as big as it is now.”

“I mean, do I believe we can close it differently at some point this season? Yes, but with the concept we have, it’s pretty difficult to do.”

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It looks like the workers at Brackley will once again play the catch-up game with their Milton-Keynes counterparts. If they want to mount some serious pressure on them, some miracle needs to happen, and it needs to happen soon.