Steiner on Hamilton’s W15 Frustrations: ‘Pessimistic Lens’

Steiner on Hamilton W15 Gripes Glass Half Empty Outlook

Günther Steiner highlights Hamilton’s frustration with Mercedes’ W15, contrasting it with Russell’s ambition to lead the team forward.

Günther Steiner believes that Lewis Hamilton‘s recent criticism of Mercedes F1 and his W15 stems from the fact that the seven-time world champion is on his way to Ferrari and is struggling to stay motivated behind the wheel of a challenging, difficult-to-tune car.

“The W15 is what it is. It’s not the best car; on a good day, it’s the fourth-best car,” Steiner explains. “So I think Lewis, knowing he’s leaving anyway, finds it easier to complain.”

“But George has every reason to do what’s necessary to show he’s the future leader of the team. He has to prove it because he knows his seat, by the end of his contract, isn’t 100% secure.”

The Italian contrasts Russell’s mindset with Hamilton’s: “Russell is trying his best, putting in every effort, while on the other hand, Lewis is there, and he doesn’t like the car, how it drives. He knows he won’t be there after three races. It bothers him, and I’d say he’s not handling it very well.”

Steiner doesn’t think Hamilton’s lack of involvement in 2025 briefings is causing his demotivation: “Lewis has so much experience that he doesn’t need to join those meetings; his engineer is there anyway, because the car needs to be set up.”

“Lewis still has to give his input on what he wants from the car. But it’s all of that together. I mean, the car is what it is. I think Lewis, at this stage, doesn’t like the car. He complains about it.”

“He sees the glass half empty, while George sees his as half full, with opportunities. Lewis sees the glass half empty and thinks, ‘I have a few races left here; there’s nothing more to gain.'”

With three races remaining before Hamilton joins Ferrari, could he really bring intellectual property over to the Reds? Steiner laughed at the idea.

“Nobody wants this Mercedes! Maybe they want to know what not to do. It’s like they’d give me the intellectual property so I’d know what to avoid.”

“I even hoped one of my former drivers could steal the characteristics of our bad Haas cars! That would have weakened our competitors (laughs)!”