"It's the thing that is making me uncomfortable": Lewis Hamilton talks about a specific design element in W14 hindering his progress

Lewis Hamilton talked about an issue that he thinks is one of the fundamental issues with the W14, at least for him, that is making it difficult for him to be competitive.

After the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, where Lewis Hamilton finished P5, he spoke about the issues that he has been facing this season with the W14. Though the car was thought to be much better than the 2022's W13, it didn't turn out to be so given how other teams improved during the winter break.

Hamilton is hardly as competitive as he would have expected to be, and he feels that the lack of downforce is something to blame. Motorsport quoted him as saying:

"We're a long way down on downforce. So we've got to pick up the rear end downforce particularly. The more rear we gain, the more stable the rear becomes, and the more confident I'll be able to attack."

Although this is one of the major issues that Mercedes have been facing, Hamilton also talked about a different issue that he has particularly never faced before. He believes that this one 'issue,' which he did not elaborate on any further than this, is one of the big reasons why he is uncomfortable in the car. He said:

"But I think in general, just this car, even if we do change that, there's a specific thing with something on the car that I have never had before. It's a position I've not had in previous years' cars. For me, it's the thing that is making me uncomfortable. I've just got to work hard to make sure it is changed."

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Lewis Hamilton feels 'the issue' with W14 is controllable and predictable while racing

Although Lewis Hamilton did not describe the issue he mentioned with the Mercedes W14, he did reveal that it is different during the race stint. According to the Briton, the issue has affected his driving a lot and he still isn't confident enough during the races. He added that he is 'doing the best' he can with it:

"It's on a massive knife edge when you're above about 95%. But when you're in a race stint, it's much more controllable and predictable. I still don't have the confidence in the race, but I'm doing the best I can with it."

Ferrari did not prove to be as competitive during Jeddah as they were expected to be. They finished behind both the W14s and it is thought that it was because of the hard compound tire that made them lose time and also a Safety Car deployment.

However, as Lewis Hamilton stated, the team is trying to develop and upgrade faster and better so that they can catch up with not the Scuderia or Red Bull, but the Aston Martins. The team has been extremely strong throughout both the race weekends and is a real threat to the Brackley-based outfit.