Lewis Hamilton has backed Mercedes' decision to persist with their aerodynamic concept, and played down the chances of 'copying' rivals. Mercedes have elected to evolve their troubled car from 2022 into this season's challenger, the W14, instead of completely redesigning the concept. Speaking at the launch of their 2023 car, Hamilton was asked if he believed the team had made a brave decision in sticking to their current car philosophy, given the trend for other teams to use Red Bull or Ferrari-inspired designs. "I don't believe we've ever been a team that copied other people. We've always been of our own mind, and we've always been a team that's incredibly creative and innovative and like to do it our way, and I think this has worked in the past," Hamilton told media, including RacingNews365.com . "[But] of course, you see some of the cars, and a lot of them are converging to what a Red Bull will perhaps look like, except for maybe Ferrari."
Hamilton continued to express his confidence in the team's desire to pursue a car concept which looked familiar to the 2022 car, which he still hoped could have the right 'characteristics' to succeed. "Last year we arrived and we're like, 'Damn, that looks quick', and it wasn't with all the issues that we had," commented Hamilton. "Then coming into another season with a car that's kind of similar looking in many respects, because some of the elements are really hard to change, but you just have to have the confidence in the engineers, and I do. "So, we're sticking with it, we're going with it, and I hope when we get in it has the characteristics that we've asked for. If not, then we'll find a way. "The job of the engineers and the designers is to come up with solutions, and so we're prepared for 'what if' and I think the difficult thing is you don't have a crystal ball."
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