Shovlin: Hamilton better at losing than most

One could argue that Lewis Hamilton, with the great success he's had in Formula 1 would struggle to deal with the low points of defeat, something the seven-time Champion had to deal with abundantly in 2022, after Mercedes got their sums wrong with that season's car, the W13.

But Andrew Shovlin, who works closely with Hamilton and is privy to his work habits within the team paints a different picture of the Mercedes ace, revealing he has a great work ethic aiming to rebound from defeat, while admitting the Briton is not such a happy bunny in such moments.

Speaking to the BBC, Shovlin said: "You can't ask Lewis to be happy when he's lost a race; that's not how he works. But he loses really well if you want someone to come back and win the next one.

"He's actually better at losing than most I've seen because of how diligently he goes through the block of work of understanding what he needs to be better, where did he miss the opportunities.

"He doesn't enjoy it, but it's about the result at the next race, not whether he's smiling or giving a nice interview," the engineer maintained.

Hamilton is one of the most talented drivers on the F1 grid, but Shovlin points out to the driver's continuous ability to learn and develop over the course of the years, which make beating him a tough job for his rivals.

That is actually quite evident as Max Verstappen - the greatest talent of the new generation of F1 drivers, arguably one the greatest ever - had to fight tooth and nail with Hamilton in 2021 before winning his first F1 Title by the skin of his teeth at the controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

"Lewis has natural talent in abundance, but his work ethic and ability to continually develop and improve means that, for drivers trying to beat him, he's a bit of a moving target," Shovlin pointed out.

"The thing with Lewis now is his bad days are so few and far between and even on his bad days he's as good as the others.

"That's what's brought him to the level he is. It's the consistency. And when he's at his best, the level is just phenomenal," the Mercedes Director concluded.

Hamilton will be looking to put the disappointment of 2022 behind, hoping the W14 - Mercedes' 2023 single seater that will be launched on February 15 - turns out to be a marked improvement over its evil "bouncy" predecessor.