F1: Winless season was 'empowering' says Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton played the role of guinea pig as Mercedes played catch up to Red Bull Racing and Ferrari during the 2022 Formula 1 season. The British racer labelled the experience 'empowering' despite going winless for an entire season for the first time in his 16-year career as an F1 driver.

Mercedes' approach to the new aerodynamic regulations did not provide the desired results as they found themselves well off the pace at the start. Red Bull and Ferrari led the field, with the Silver Arrows left fighting in the midfield.

The W13 was most affected by the porpoising phenomenon compared to the other teams, and it took Mercedes almost half the campaign to get over it. Any hope of a title challenge was extinguished owing to their issues and inability to develop the car at a faster rate.

Mercedes made a small step forward at the Spanish Grand Prix, but most of their development proved fruitful only in the second half of the campaign. Hamilton offered his services to help the team experiment with different set ups during race weekends, which cost him valuable time to find his right race set up.

The seven-time world champion's decision saw him finish behind new teammate George Russell in the championship. Mercedes' only win of the campaign came at the Brazilian Grand Prix with Russell behind the wheel. Hamilton admitted that the new experience after eight seasons of dominance was 'empowering'.

"It's been impressive, for sure," Hamilton said of the progress Mercedes made over the course of the season, as quoted on GP Fans. "I always knew that we could do it. I never doubted that we would get there in the end."

Hamilton commended the team for their hard work, and revealed that it was a collective "trial and error" effort to get Mercedes back to challenging the frontrunners. The Brackley-based team still finished third in the championship, and were just 39 points behind Ferrari in second.

"There were times we brought upgrades and they didn't work, and times we tried different things and it didn't work," he added. "I tried so many things and failed so many times but through that, you learn and grow."

"That's what it's been about this year. It's been about failure, breaking down egos, strengthening our relationships, and strengthening our communications. From that perspective, it's been really empowering."