Hamilton Faces Stark Reality at Mercedes F1

Hamilton Faces Stark Reality at Mercedes F1

02/05/2024

Lewis Hamilton’s struggle to accept reality at Mercedes F1 has surprised many, including Gary Anderson. The seven-time world champion is facing unprecedented challenges with his car’s performance.

Lewis Hamilton is experiencing a very challenging start to the season at Mercedes F1, having scored only 19 points in five races, but the seven-time world champion appears to be struggling to manage an uncomfortable performance situation since early 2022.

Gary Anderson, a former Formula 1 engineer, is astonished to see the difficulties the Briton is facing in finding a way to make his car work, and wonders how much he might have given up while waiting to join Ferrari.

“He has been present on the few occasions when Mercedes has managed to be in the right place, with two poles and a victory since the end of 2021, but it has been fleeting. The Mercedes is generally inconsistent. All this could mislead him, and Hamilton does not seem willing to accept the reality.”

“There is also a cascading effect that hampers the long-term development of the car. If you make odd choices in terms of settings, the team struggles to find a baseline for performance and adjustments.”

“This limits the learning of the car. If this is not addressed, the development path, that is, knowing what to work on in the wind tunnel and improving aerodynamic performance, will also be confusing. The team ends up lacking a positive direction.”

“It’s always a recurring puzzle for Hamilton, but he at least has an end date, since he’s moving to Ferrari. In the meantime, if he doesn’t want to finish the year as the second-best Mercedes driver, he should take inspiration from Russell and make the most of what he has at his disposal.”

Anderson does not understand the habit taken by the Mercedes driver to change everything during the weekend to progress, unsuccessfully: “Hamilton always seems to be in search of the miracle solution that will suddenly put him in the lead. In all my years in motorsport, I have never seen this happen.”

“Mercedes has a fundamental problem with its car since the beginning of 2022, and no change in settings will solve it. It’s always about optimizing what you have at your disposal, if you can do that, it gives you a working base.”

“Excuses must stop at some point. The decision-making process on Hamilton’s side must be questioned. When Hamilton talks about these unconventional setups, they are probably not as crazy as he would like us to believe.”

Hamilton Faces Stark Reality at Mercedes F1

Hamilton Faces Stark Reality at Mercedes F1. Hamilton Faces Stark Reality at Mercedes F1

Go toTop