Hamilton hints at "top secret" findings after Mercedes factory visit

The seven-time world champion vowed at the Japanese Grand Prix that he would visit the designers in the Mercedes wind tunnel to check they were making the changes he had requested for next year’s car. 

Mercedes have already confirmed they will fundamentally re-design their troubled and inconsistent W14 challenger for next season after two difficult years lagging behind the dominant Red Bulls.

Hamilton made good on his promise and visited Mercedes’ headquarters last week.

Asked by Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz whether he saw anything that excited him during his trip, Hamilton laughed and replied: “I can’t tell you, it’s all top secret stuff. 

“Firstly, I’m not an aerodynamicist,” he added. “But when you go into the wind tunnel, it's mega exciting. 

“No matter what point of the year you go in, there’s new bits coming. There’s bits in the pipeline. There’s stuff being tried all the time. 

“What excites me is going into where the aerodynamicists, the whole team, are working away. That’s what inspires me. Everyone’s heads are down, everyone is doing their due diligence. 

“Everyone’s unhappy with where we are and been for the past couple of years. I know they are hungry and that, for me, I know they are chasing and doing absolutely everything they can. I’m then able to bring that into the weekend. 

"No matter what shape it’s looking like, I can’t say [if] it’s going to be fast. It’s the work those guys are doing and they know what they are doing. I have 100% faith in them that they will pull it together.” 

Hamilton’s arch rival Max Verstappen is set to become a three-time world champion at this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix. 

“For me, I didn’t think about all the other champions. I only thought about Ayrton,” Hamilton said of Verstappen’s impending achievement. 

“For me as a kid, the dream was to get to F1, then the dream ‘I hope I can do something like Ayrton’. Then I got a world championship. Then I got three. 

“When I eventually got three, it was very surreal to think that I had equalled as many wins and pole positions. That’s what blew my mind, for me. 

“But then, of course, it does put you on the list with all the greats. Which is a very honorary list.”