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Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time Formula One World Champion, has publicly criticized his team, Mercedes, for not listening to him during the development of their car. Despite his team's track record, Hamilton believes that the designers and aerodynamicists should take responsibility for the issues with the car and work to address them.
"Last year, there were things I told them. I said the issues that are with the car," said the 38-year-old Briton. "I've driven so many cars in my life. I know what a car needs. I know what a car doesn't need. I think it's really about accountability." The designers and aerodynamicists should now take the "responsibility,".
Hamilton said, "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' 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." "We're still [multiple] world champions, you know? Just haven't got it right this time. Didn't get it right last year. But that doesn't mean we can't get it right moving forwards."
A Sour Start to the New Season
The season opener in Bahrain saw Hamilton take a disappointing fifth place, more than 50 seconds behind the winner, Max Verstappen.
The Silver Arrows' poor performance has put the team on red alert and they have spent the start of this week in meetings looking for ways to improve the car's performance. Team boss Toto Wolff acknowledged the team's struggles, saying, "This is not a matter of finding 0.3secs and polishing the car up.
This is a matter of serious performance we need to find to put us back in a position to fight for race wins and championships."
A Ray of Hope for the Future
Despite the team's struggles, Hamilton remains optimistic about the future.
"We're still multiple world champions," he said, "We didn't do it this time and we didn't do it last year, but that doesn't mean we can't do it in the future." Wolff also sees a bright future ahead, saying, "Aston Martin took that decision [to rebuild their car] and they came back strong.
If we start from our base, maybe we can come back strong and chase the Red Bulls. That's the ambition."