Hamilton: Mercedes has a good atmosphere

At a press conference on Wednesday, Lewis Hamilton denied speculation that his announcement of an impending move to Ferrari had a negative impact on the atmosphere at Mercedes…

Lewis Hamilton: “There is a good atmosphere in the team. Everyone is focused on the work. The beginning of the season is always an interesting period when you see everyone is united and doing their job.

My statement hasn’t changed anything. On Monday I was back at base. Everything is in full combat readiness. We are ready to attack.

I have been working with this team for a long time and will always love it. Everyone knows I’m here to succeed this year. Just like every other year.

There will be emotions, or they already exist. Every week will be emotional. For example, fitting the chair – it was the last in this team, and you remember the first.

My last winter tests with Mercedes are behind us and as the season progresses there will be many emotional experiences, but we will experience them together.

We have excellent motivation within the team, the best platform for work. There are still some problems, we keep working, but now we are in better shape than at the beginning of the last two seasons. We are not yet where we want to be, but we are going to work on that.

I am confident that George Russell can lead Mercedes forward and become the leader of the team. He is well versed in technology and has come a long way since joining Williams and our team. He is close with Toto. There is no doubt that this will be his position.”