Hamilton Vs Bottas

It’s been all change at Mercedes over the winter.

- Rob Ladbrook

Mercedes is looking quick Hamilton says he doesn’t believe his own hype Troubles of 2016 are behind

Mercedes went through a lot of upheaval over the winter, with matters made worse by the fact that not all of it was entirely expected.

It’s rare that the dominant team in the sport is forced to change its winning formula, so in many ways the offseason shake-up was unprecedented. World champion Nico Rosberg’s shock retirement forced the boardroom into an urgent recruitment drive, which doubled when technical chief Paddy Lowe left the team and James Allison arrived in his former office at the Brackley base instead.

But one thing has stayed consistent ahead of this year: Lewis Hamilton. His routine is no different over the winter off – train hard, clear his head, pursue his other passions outside of motor racing and then get back to work as championship favourite.

He may no longer be the reigning world champion, but Hamilton still has the aura of being the performance yardstick, the one they all need to beat.

The backroom shuffling at Mercedes hasn’t altered that, neither has the loss of Rosberg and the arrival of new team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

To Hamilton, all of the shifts have seemed seamless, and it’s back to business as usual.

“I’ve never missed a team-mate in my life,” he says. “That’s simply because as soon as one goes another simply comes in and takes his place.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s going to be strange at first, sitting in the garage and seeing somebody in the other car that isn’t Nico. It will take some adjustment, but we’ll soon get past it.