Mercedes’ ‘huge disappointment’ in Abu Dhabi ends ‘very difficult year’

Mika Hakkinen believes the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was a “huge disappointment” for Mercedes after a challenging season.

Mercedes might have been content with Sao Paulo being the final race of the 2022 season had it not been for their desire to wrest the team’s P2 from Ferrari, which they were unable to do.

There we saw old-school Mercedes, George Russell winning the sprint and grand prix, and Lewis Hamilton going one-two.

But sadly, the season ended in Abu Dhabi, with Mercedes now playing close to that level, with Russell earning a five-second penalty after his unsafe release from the pit lane to finish fifth, while Hamilton retired late due to hydraulic problems.

Mercedes then saw their season end low on two-time world champion Hakkinen, which he said came at the end of a campaign where the Silver Arrows had faced many difficulties.

“It’s been a very difficult year for Mercedes,” Hakkinen wrote on his blog. Unibet column“Sunday was very disappointing with George taking the penalty and Lewis having a rare reliability problem.”

With Hamilton’s retirement in Abu Dhabi, it meant he went without a win for the first time in his Formula 1 career.

Hamilton and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff have played down the importance of the current streak, although Hakkinen believes it will take Hamilton’s determination up a notch next season as both team and driver look to avoid a repeat of the same mistakes.

“Incredibly, this is the first season since Lewis started his F1 career in 2007 without a grand prix,” said Hakkinen.

“But somehow, I think it will make him more determined next season. One thing is for sure – he and Mercedes definitely don’t want to repeat the mistakes of 2022!

Speaking to the media, including PlanetF1, after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Hamilton said even if he had won a race this season, a single win didn’t feel like enough.

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As such, he sees a podium at Mercedes as a victory, an achievement he will stick to.

“To be honest, it’s good to win one game, isn’t it enough?” Hamilton suggested.

“So I feel like this year when we got on the podium for the first time it felt like a win, those few seconds it felt like we had really achieved something, so I’m going to stick with it.”

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