51 races since his last Grand Prix victory, Lewis Hamilton says he’s had “enough” of not winning and wants to help Mercedes to get back to the top step of the podium.
The seven-time World Champion last won a Grand Prix in 2021, victorious at the penultimate race in Saudi Arabia to take the title fight down to the wire.
Lewis Hamilton: ‘It’s been tough of course, we exist to win’
He lost that, overtaken by Max Verstappen on the final lap in Abu Dhabi as the Red Bull driver denied him a record-breaking eighth World title.
Hamilton has not won a race since as Mercedes have struggled to find their feet in the new ground-effect aerodynamic era, leaving them with just one win on the board with George Russell P1 at the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix.
As such Hamilton’s winless streak is up to 51, his longest-ever barren spell in a sport in which he has won 103 Grands Prix and seven World titles.
He’s had “enough” of it.
“It’s been tough, it’s been a really challenge,” he told CBS News. “It could’ve been worse.
“It’s been a really transitional period where there has been a lot of team bonding, really low moments within the group which then ultimately bring you together.
“There’s been a lot of vulnerability within the team with all of us and it’s really been a growing experience.
“It’s been tough of course, we exist to win.
“When you’re not winning, your perspective has to shift, and it’s just then been about chasing and it’s about improvement.
“It’s about coming together. How can we make improvements? How can we get back to where we want to be? And rallying everyone up, I actually really enjoyed that experience.
“But three years in now, we’re like, ‘okay, I’ve had enough of this, let’s get back to where we belong’.”
Lewis Hamilton explains ‘most painful part’ of 2024 struggles
This season marks Hamilton’s final opportunity to help Mercedes do just that before the 39-year-old leaves the team to join Ferrari.
But his swansong is not going according to plan.
Despite putting an all-new W15 on the track, the team has yet to reach the podium and sits a distant P4 in the Constructors’ Championship.
Hamilton, whose best result in a Grand Prix so far was his sixth-placed finish in Miami, is ninth in the Drivers’ standings on 27 points.
“I do and that’s probably the most painful part,” he replied when asked if he had wanted his final season with Mercedes to be his ‘best season’.
“Everyone at the team, they want it to be a great year. Everyone has worked so hard back.
“For me, this whole journey has been massively emotional. Just because I have so much love for this team.
“I’m not leaving because I’m unhappy there. I’m not leaving because of relationship issues.
“Mercedes have supported me since I was 13. They’ve been with me through thick and thin.
“So, it’s definitely a strange transition at the moment.”