Even though Mercedes struggled in 2022 - the first year of these technical regulations - they retained a similar car philosophy for F1 2023, maintaining the same ‘zero-pod’ design.

In hindsight it seems Mercedes were fooled by their late-season form 💫in 2022, winning in Brazil and challenging in USA and Mexico.

They started the year on the backfoot, dropping behind Aston Martin, and r🥃emaining behind Red Bull and Ferrari.

This led to Hamilton voicing his frustration after the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, where he claimed that Merced🌳es hadn’t listened to his feedback over the winter.

In an in꧅terview with the , Hamilton reiterated tﷺhat viewpoint before revealing why it was so ‘frustrating’ for the team earlier in the year.

"I remember it feeling exactly the same. And that definitely was not a great feeling. I really had high hopes,” Hamilton said. "In February, when we do a download of where the car is going, I&nb꧒sp;was a little more apprehensive, because the previous year it was like🌊: 'The car is amazing, it's unique, no-one's going to have anything like it.' And then we get to the first test…

"So, I was a little bit more cautious when I was listening, and I was like: 'We will see.' And then the car had all these problems. I just knew it was going to be a long year. I'm sure the🃏re were frustrations, because I had asked for certain changes, and they weren't done."

"No-one knew exactly wha💙t the problem was. No-one knew how to fix 🌞it.”

Hamilton conceded that 2023 was made easier by the fact the previous season was just as difficult, leading to ♏a positive mi🍎ndset.

"Having th♏e experience of the previous year, I just applied myself, in terms of digging down, sitting with the guys. We were having much better meetings,” he added.

"I was able to stay a lot more positive during the year and be like: 'It's going to be a long season, but let's not give up. Let's keep pushing towards g🎶etting the maximum out of the car, whatever that may be.'”

"I think for this year they thought: 'The fundamentals are good and we just have to go here.' And it was not the case. That's why I was frustrated in F♎ebruary, because they hadn't made the changes I'd asked for.