Lewis Hamilton makes his first visit to the Mercedes factory – Formula 1 news
Former McLaren driver, Lewis Hamilton, has made his first visit to the Mercedes factory in Brackley, UK before he joins the team from the start of the 2013 F1 season.
Norbert Haug, who is going to step down from his post at the end of this year, has said that McLaren and Mercedes had agreed on a deal in order to allow Hamilton to visit the factory.
“Lewis has already been in the factory to see the team and fulfil some duties after we found an agreement about that with McLaren,” Haug said.
It is being reported that Hamilton was there to meet his new engineers and also had a go at the team’s stimulator. He also got measured up for his new team outfit and a seat fitting for the new car. It has also been reported that there will be no other visits
until January.
The British driver had signed the deal with Mercedes in September taking the F1 community by surprise as he quit his long term team McLaren. Shortly after Hamilton’s contract, Michael Schumacher announced his final retirement so that Hamilton will be replacing
him as the teammate for the other Mercedes driver, Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton has stated that he has made the decision to move since he thinks he needs a new challenge to renew his determination to win. He said that because Mercedes is in need of winning so it provides perfectly for his purpose. On the other hand, he has
denied that he regrets his move in any way in contrast to what other people are saying and that he is very happy but he does want to return back to McLaren sometime in the future since the team is like his home.
Mercedes has been in F1 since 2010 but has not been able to achieve much success. Their only achievement was the race victory in China by Nico Rosberg this past season. Even Schumacher’s return from his first retirement did not help the team. The team’s
car is also not that strong but team principal, Ross Brawn, has admitted that they will be providing a better car to both drivers in 2013.
Tags: