Lewis Hamilton is set to suffer his worst result in eighteen seasons of being a driver in Formula One. His current position of seventh in the drivers table is one lower than his previous lowest finish of sixth back in 2022. 

Yet this is but the tip of the iceberg of the Mercedes’ drivers woes given he was once credited as the master of the qualifying single lap. And it is qualifying which is the single source of Lewis’ troubles given across all other metrics he is close to his team mate Russell.

Hamilton has an average grid position of 8.64 which compares to his team mates 5.82 but in there race the form is quite different. There lewis leads George with an average classified finish of 5.65 while George is marginally behind at 5.70.

 

 

 

Russell crushes Hamilton in qualifying

George though has hammered his team mate when it comes to qualifying with the intra team battle standing at 17-5 in Russell’s favour. Yet behind the headline numbers, the differences between the pair are subtle but consistent.

It is Hamilton’s failure to execute at the crucial moment which has cost him dear this year and this was evident in the most recent Grand Prix held along the Strip in Las Vegas. Lewis had a fantastic weekend over the first and a half in the Nevada desert, topping the time sheets in both practice sessions on Thursday evening.

Hamilton was brimming with confidence claiming the car was “the best its ever been” yet come qualifying, two small mistakes in Q3 meant Lewis failed to put together two well executed laps and the seven times champion was forced to start the race on Saturday night from tenth place.

On his first run he locked the brakes up which forced him to abort the lap and on his second attempt he put his W251 into a power slide in Turn 3 which cost him valuable tenths of a second.

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Lewis claims he should have had pole in Vegas

Hamilton claimed he should have been on pole, or at least the front row, something he echoed after the race as he blamed his lowly start position for his inability to catch his team mate. That said, Toto Wolff revealed his younger driver had been in tyre management mode, while Hamilton was tearing through the field. The inference being that Hamilton’s prediction was rather optimistic.

The qualifying nemesis for Lewis began way back in Bahrain where the W15 showed strong pace as Russell qualified P3. Hamilton however suffered a handling error in the fast hairpin of turn 6/7 and lost traction while attacking the final corner too.

In Melbourne Lewis failed to make Q3 for the first time this season and while he had matched Russell in the first two sectors, a loss of traction in the final two turns saw him fail to make the top ten.

Hamilton suffered the first of three shock Q1 exits in China with Lewis admitting his mistake as he qualified in eighteenth place. He lost his car under heavy braking at the end of the back straight in Shanghai going wide at the corner losing chunks of time.

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Shock Q1 exits

The first of Lewis’ three big shocks in Q1 this season. Lewis himself admitted his mistake as he finished P18 while Russell made it through to Q3 and eventually finished P8. Under hard braking on the back straight of the Shanghai circuit, Hamilton lost the apex and went wide on the exit of the corner, losing a lot of time.

In Austria, Cananda, Monza and Austin Texas, Hamilton suffered with a break in traction but in Azerbaijan it was not all Lewis’ fault. The team split the setup of their cars with Hamilton running a lower downforce package compared to his team mate which saw him suffer in the sector 2 twisty section of the Baku street circuit.

The speed advantage down the long front straight was not enough to compensate for the middle score losses. Yet a theme emerges when looking at Hamilton’s qualifying data and it is many of his issues have occurred at the final corners.

Hamilton’s driving style requires a car with a strong front end so he can attack the corner, then he relies on a compliant rear end to power away from the apex of a turn. The Mercedes W15 often punishes its tyres towards the end of a qualifying lap (when temperatures are not low) which explains its better performances at Silverstone, Canada and Las Vegas.

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W15 engineering not suiting Lewis driving style

The W15 does have the front end Lewis prefers but the limited rear grip appears to regularly catch Hamilton out. That said, the new breed of ground effect cars born in 2022 all have similar qualities as the cars now rely on the floor for 50% of the downforce, which is lost when the car hits a bump in the road.

Whether Hamilton’s decision to leave for Ferrari was because they have a car which is preferable to Lewis’ requirements is questionable. Dr. Marko believes the Italian’s will improve their car for next season, but questions whether they have made the right decision in recruiting Lewis Hamilton alongside Charles Leclerc.

Speaking this week with Austrian media outlet OE24, the Red Bull advisor notes Georges “dominance” in the races both have been classified. The tally is 13 for the young Mercedes driver in the 19 both have seen the chequered flag.

“Russell was already more dominant than Hamilton this year,” he said. “In terms of drivers, Ferrari will be stronger next year, although I’m curious to see whether they will have great harmony in the team.”

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Marko questions Ferrari decision

Lewis is not backward in coming forward over team radio and Leclerc’s expletive laden outburst at Sainz in Las Vegas, proves he will be no pushover.

Hamilton has a guaranteed two seasons drive with the Maranello based squad, though whether he will claim that all important eight world title with the Scuderia will depend very much on whether he can best his team mate.

This season is the first time in his eighteen years in Formula One that Lewis Hamilton has lost out to his team mate in qualifying. Of course Russell has grown each year in confidence, but as Toto Wolff suggested, is Hamilton coming to the end of his “shelf life”?

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Verstappen’s manager threatens Red Bull

Last weekend Max Verstappen became a four times Formula One world champion and it happened in one of the world’s biggest party towns, Las Vegas. The Red Bull driver joined an exclusive club of five drivers in history who have achieved this feat in consecutive seasons.

Yet it was not an easy ride this year for Max and Red Bull as the season began with allegations against the team boss, an internal power struggle and to top it all the announcement that guru F1 car designer Adrian Newey was leaving the team.

There was talk at the time that Verstappen was unhappy with the goings on within the team and when Dr. Marko suggested he may be suspended, Max threw his weight behind his mentor suggesting if the Austrian was to leave Red Bull, he may follow suit… READ MORE