Lewis Hamilton has admitted that he "just had to" tease himself with a drive in his Mercedes W12 – the car that took him to eight wins and a further nine podiums – ahead of the British Grand Prix weekend. The seven-time World Champion is yet to taste victory in 2022 as his team continue to wrestle with their porpoising problems, but he has experienced a race-winning car, he says, after piloting his 2021 machine behind the scenes. His time behind the wheel of the W12 left him "smiling from ear to ear" after a season spent bouncing in the problematic W13, with occasional back pain. "I drove last year's car last week," he admitted, speaking to Channel 4, adding: "It was a dream!"
Hamilton: This year's car doesn't feel anything like the W12
Not much is known of Hamilton's drive in his W12, other than how his stint back behind the wheel of his W12 made him feel. The W12 is the seventh of his World Championship-winning cars and his fifth World Championship-winning Mercedes. Hamilton continued: "I had an opportunity to do it and I just had to, right? "I got out of the car and I was smiling from ear to ear. It was... God, it was so good. "And I was like: 'This year's car does not feel anything like this' – but we're working towards making it feel like this."
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