Hamilton: “Mercedes had its most difficult winter”

Lewis Hamilton thinks Mercedes had its most difficult winter after rules changes for the 2019 F1 season. “It’s been a difficult winter for the guys back at the factory,” he said. “I could see it and I’ve heard from the guys, probably the most difficult one particularly with the rule change once again. But if anyone can do it, I truly believe it’s my guys. We are the only team to have won a championship in a cross over of a rules situation.” Ferrari impressed many with their testing times last week but Hamilton isn’t ruling out a challenge to Mercedes coming from elsewhere. “I’m competing with everyone. I don’t know who’s going to be quickest. I think you can’t say just Ferrari. I don’t know where the Red Bulls are. I’m hopeful that there’s going to be more teams involved. But who knows what people are going to bring up when we get to the first race. “Right now we’re competing against our past selves as a team. We’re really trying to raise the bar in all those areas. All the engineers back in the factory are raising the bar. It’s been super-impressive to see the atmosphere within the team after all these years of success that we’ve had. To see that the hunger is still there. To see the drive is still there. No one’s fazing out. No one’s back off. Everyone is pushing full steam ahead.”

Lewis Hamilton tried new methods to round up for 2019