Lewis Hamilton distances himself from Mercedes as Wolff leans towards Red Bull

Antiques Roadshow guest brings in Lewis Hamilton's overalls

Lewis Hamilton has distanced himself from Mercedes’ decision to ditch their skinny sidepod design this season. The new-look W14 mirrors elements of Red Bull’s RB19, with Silver Arrows boss Toto Wolff looking to close the gap and restore the team’s F1 dominance.

Mercedes began the ground-effect design era, which was introduced last year, with a drastically different-looking car than the rest of their competitors. Narrow sidepods were an obvious distinction, and engineers ultimately had to admit defeat in 2023.

Eyebrows were raised when they broadly stuck with the same design at the start of this season, but Wolff was quick to commit to a drastic change after it became clear that Hamilton and his team-mate, George Russell, would once again be left significantly off the pace.

Hamilton was not shy in voicing his frustrations about the W14 before the changes were introduced, but the seven-time world champion insists that going down a new route, with a design that leans closer towards Red Bull, was not his decision.

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“These are ideas from the past year, with the team and George Russell we have been constantly working on questions like ‘why does this look like this’ and ‘have we tried this yet’,” the Brit told reporters.

“Now we have wider sidepods, a bit towards Red Bull’s, and I can say it wasn’t my decision to go this way. When we put the car on the track for the first time this year it was almost a copy of last year’s car, only it didn’t bounce. A bit like a prettier sister, but really with similar characteristics.”

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Hamilton will be eager for the new-look W14 to yield positive results as he hunts down a first Grand Prix win since 2021. The 38-year-old has never been on a drought this long and runaway Drivers’ Championship leader Max Verstappen is sure to take some stopping this season.

Red Bull have won all seven races so far, with Sergio Perez picking up two victories to supplement Verstappen’s five. But Hamilton has a history of success in Montreal, where drivers are soon set to arrive ahead of this weekend’s Grand Prix.

The Mercedes star sits alongside F1 icon Michael Schumacher at the top of the all-time charts with seven race wins in Canada. Verstappen and Fernando Alonso are the only other two drivers poised to line up on Sunday who have won the race previously.

The Silver Arrows introduced their new sidepods and broad-ranging upgrades package in Monaco last month, with Hamilton finishing in the top four in the two Grands Prix since, including an impressive second place in Spain last time out.

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