F1 News: Lewis Hamilton says the 2022 Mercedes "was like a ghost"
Lewis Hamilton has spoken about the characteristics of his Mercedes W13 machine after a frustrating season for the Silver Arrows.
Having spent much of the last decade dominating Formula 1, it was a surprise for the paddock to witness Mercedes struggle to fight at the front in 2022.
Aside from rare purple patches in Spain, Silverstone and Brazil, the German squad lacked the performance to fight for race victories.
Not only was the W13 behind its rivals in terms of raw pace, but its often unpredictable nature prevented Mercedes from making assured estimations of their pace deficit to Red Bull and Ferrari.
Strong races, such as the Hungarian GP, would often be followed with more complicated weekends, such as Spa, ruining their momentum and late bid for second place in the standings.
Lewis Hamilton has elaborated on the issues which affected Mercedes most detrimentally last year:
"The first big step was Barcelona. That was our first hint of there being more potential in the car.
"It turned out to be a bit of a false positive, the car was good there, but then the races afterwards were difficult.
"It was like a ghost was in the car, and it kept coming back in. But then there was France, and that felt like a good step with our first double podium of the season.
"And then there was Austin, too, with the update we had working well...
"I tried so many things and failed so many times, but through that, you learn and grow. That's what it's been about this year.
"It's been about failure, breaking down egos, strengthening our relationships and strengthening our communications."
Mercedes has proven its competency and relentlessness for almost a decade, so their progress over the winter break will be interesting to observe - and likely crucial for the 2023 title battle.
Although there is no guarantee the Silver Arrows will return to Championship-winning ways, the German squad is firmly within striking distance of the front.