Seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton has downplayed talks of a potential exit from Mercedes but insists that the team requires “a kick” after a disappointing start to the 2023 season.
Looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2022 season that ended their run of eight consecutive constructors titles, Mercedes was well off the pace in Bahrain last Sunday, finishing four places behind Max Verstappen, who led the dominant Red Bull one-two with Sergio Perez.
Hamilton ended the race 50 seconds worse off Verstappen in fifth place, while his teammate George Russell finished a further two places behind in seventh position.
The 38-year-old British driver was left frustrated by a lack of synergy between himself and his team in the wake of the W14, leading to a rise in speculation on his future ahead of this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
“In hindsight, I think looking back it wasn’t necessarily the best choice of words,” Hamilton was quoted by Sky Sports. “Of course, there are times when you’re not in agreement with certain team members, but what’s important is that we continue to communicate, continue to pull together.
“I still have 100 per cent belief in this team, it is my family and I’ve been here a long time, so I don’t plan on going anywhere else.
“But we all need a kick, we all need to get on – the proof is in the pudding, we’ve seen where the performance is and how people are extracting the performance, and we’ve got to now start making some bold decisions, some big moves in order to close the gap to these guys.
“Hopefully at some point during the year, we’re hopeful we might be able to close the gap but at that point it will be probably too late in terms of fighting for a championship, but we can still turn some heads hopefully.”
Hamilton will switch his focus to Friday’s test practice at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in preparation for the main race of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday.
