Mercedes suggest Hamilton ‘relief’ after latest wins

Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin says he has not seen a "drastic change" in Lewis Hamilton after the British driver ended his F1 victory drought.

However, the 50-year-old does believe that win at Silverstone was "probably a relief" for the seven-time drivers' champion.

56 grand prix, 31 months, 945 days separated Hamilton from his previous victory - at the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - and his triumph in front of home crowds in July.

The 39-year-old followed that win up with another victory, at Spa-Francorchamps, to close out the first part of the F1 season. Now, he faces 10 final rounds with Mercedes before leaving for Ferrari at the end of the year.

However, despite his recent change in fortunes, Shovlin does not feel it has radically altered Hamilton as he approaches his Mercedes farewell tour.

"I wouldn't say a drastic change," Shovlin told select media including RacingNews365 when asked if he had noticed anything different about the 105-time grand prix winner since Silverstone.

"I wouldn't say I've seen a great change in Lewis in [so much as] did the win bring him confidence?

"I think it's probably a relief for him, and it means he's not asking that question of will he win again.

"And, from the old team's point of view, we were delighted that he did, because the career he's had with the team is one that would be more aptly finished with a few more trophies rather than a flat finish, or the performance we had at the start of the year."

An appropriate curtain call for Hamilton and Mercedes has been made possible thanks to significant development of the W15 over the past two months.

The team began 2024 with the fourth-fastest car, and until George Russell's podium in Montreal, fifth-place was the best finish either of its drivers had achieved in a grand prix.

With three victories in the four rounds heading into the summer break, the turnaround for Mercedes has been considerable, and according to Shovlin, is having a clear effect on the Brackley squad's drivers.

"I think the bigger one [change], with both of the drivers [Hamilton and Russell] is they've recently realised that if the tracks right, we've got a car that can win races, as we saw in Silverstone, and we've got a car that, for the last five races, has been fighting for podiums on merit," he added.

"So that will always get them more excited about the opportunity, because drivers do it to win [and] to get podiums - that's what they enjoy."