"It wasn't necessarily the best choice of words": Lewis Hamilton looks back at his 'they didn't listen to me' remark

Lewis Hamilton has clarified the comments he made about Mercedes not having listened to him when developing their car. The seven-time world champion reassured the F1 community of things being hunky-dory within the Brackley squad.

The Briton was seemingly frustrated with his team after they allegedly didn't take his opinion before developing the W14 this year. Hamilton claimed that Mercedes ought to take accountability for their woeful development and own up to the seven-time world champion.

The Mercedes star had a poor start to the season, having been nowhere in the fight for the win in Bahrain. His W14 lacks the rear grip and downforce needed to challenge the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari in 2023.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the 2023 Saudi Arabian GP, where Sportskeeda was present, Lewis Hamilton said:

"I mean, in hindsight, I think looking back, it wasn't necessarily the best choice of words. I mean, there are, 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, we continue to pull together. I still have 100% 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. We've seen the proof is in the pudding and we've seen where the performance is and how people are extracting the performance."

Toto Wolff claims the team is sticking with Lewis Hamilton despite his controversial remarks

Toto Wolff, the head of Mercedes, has asserted that his team remains united despite Lewis Hamilton's accusations that the team ignored his input on car development. Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, has argued that Mercedes are partly responsible for their lackluster performances in the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

Despite Hamilton's criticisms, Wolff maintains that there is no discord within the team. Mercedes had aimed to upset the established order after making significant progress towards the end of the previous year. However, they had a disastrous start to the season, with Hamilton being outperformed by his long-standing rival Fernando Alonso, who finished in third place.

During an interview with BBC 5, Hamilton expressed his frustration with the team's strategy, claiming that they did not take his advice into account during the development of this year's car. Toto Wolff spoke about the team's unity with Autosport, saying:

"The Lewis situation is you heard him on the [team] radio. He is an integral part of the team, picking the team up and we are all sticking together and I don’t think that is going to change just because we had a start that was really bad,"

It will be interesting to monitor the relationship between Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes in the coming months, given the team's woeful state.