Lewis Hamilton: Record F1 Champion Returns to Mercedes Ahead of 2023 Season Battle With Verstappen, Leclerc

• Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and George Russell returned to the track for the new season
• Hamilton had a disheartening campaign in 2022 after he failed to win even a single race
• The Toto Wolff-led team will be unveiling their new car on February 14th with Red Bull doing so on February 3rd

Lewis Hamilton returned to the track for the very first time this year ahead of the 2023 Formula 1 season.

Mercedes is currently stationed at the Paul Ricard circuit in France as they continue with their tests on the Pirelli new tyres.

Hamilton was out on the track on Thursday 2nd February with his teammate George Rusell going in a day earlier. Both drivers used the W13 model which gave them a lot of problems last season.

The Brackley-based side were beaten convincingly by Red Bull and Ferrari in the constructors' championships with Hamilton, a seven-time winner, failing to win even a single race.

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W14 E Performance Launch

Team Principal Toto Wolff will be looking to make amends in the new season which begins with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 3rd. The team is set to unveil their new model the W14 on February 15th as reported by Sky Sports.

Hamilton will be hoping that the W14 will steer him to a record eighth title. Max Verstappen has won the last two championships. Ferrari will also be looking to improve on their score last season with poor decision-making costing Charles Leclerc on a number of occasions.

2023 F1 Launch dates

Red Bull are expected to unveil their new car RB19 on February third with Ferrari revealing their project number 675(no official name yet) on February 14th. Alpine will be the last team to launch their car model on February 16th before the team's head to Bahrain for pre-season testing.

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The Netflix documentary, Drive to Survive season five, will be released on February 24th.

Verstappen's fans handed slight advantage

Sports Brief had earlier reported that fans of Max Verstappen have reportedly been handed a slight advantage ahead of the 2023 Formula 1 season.

Verstappen will put his title on the line for the second time in his career with Lewis Hamilton leading the drivers angling to take the championship away from him.

And even before the season commences, reports that Red Bull fans will have seats set aside for them in specific areas in six of the 23 Grands Prix of 2023.

The said six events include the Spanish, Las Vegas, Dutch, Austria, Hungarian and Belgian Grands Prix. Fans of the rest of the drivers will use the grandstands. Las Vegas will be making a return to the F1 calendar for the first time since 1984.