Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes driven by ‘sting’ of defeat for new F1 season

Mercedes took a bitter blow to their morale when Lewis Hamilton was denied an eighth title in controversial circumstances at last year’s season finale, according to a pivotal member of the team.

Anthony Davidson, the former F1 driver who has been Mercedes’ simulator driver since 2012, witnessed the striking change in atmosphere following the Abu Dhabi result and the steely determination that followed from the team and Hamilton in preparation for this weekend’s Formula One season-opener in Bahrain.

Davidson describes a team rocked by Hamilton’s defeat, when the then-race director, Michael Masi, took decisions under the safety car that allowed Max Verstappen to overtake on the final lap to win the race and drivers’ championship. “I came back in for the first day [after Abu Dhabi] and the atmosphere, well they were hurting badly, they were bruised, suddenly the tone had changed.”

In the fallout in the off-season, Masi was removed from his post after a review into the incident. Mercedes, who had still won the constructors’ championship for the eighth time, set about returning stronger for 2022 when F1 enters a new era with a full set of new regulations and entirely new cars.

Mercedes did not enjoy their best testing, with their car seemingly off the pace and difficult to set up. However, Davidson, who drove in F1 in 2007 and 2008 and then enjoyed a long and successful career in sportscars, is convinced they will only be spurred on to greater things this season by the events of 2021.

“It really was a big sting for them,” he said. “What kind of extra motivation can there be to try to come back this year fighting harder than ever before? It’s got to be a help in many ways. If there is anything that is going to add fuel to the