Last Updated on July 11 2025, 1:42 pm

Lewis Hamilton, once top dog on the world of Formula One has had a humbling few seasons since dramatically losing the 2021 drivers’ title on the last lap of the last race in Abu Dhabi. It would have been a record breaking eighth F1 championship for the British driver but amidst the chaos of a late safety car and pit stops, Mercedes failed to give their driver the fresh rubber his arch rival had received.

The Mercedes driver began the 2022 season looking as though he was still suffering from a hangover from three months earlier, with just one podium to his name in the first eight race weekends. Lewis recovered somewhat towards the end of the year but was comfortable beaten by his new team mate George Russell in the final standings come the end of the year.

The seven times champion failed to win a single race in 2022-23 but finally his 945 day drought was ended, ironically at the British Grand Prix in 2024 where Hamilton had once been dominant in font of his home crowd. So what changed? Had the crushing experience of 2021 destroyed Hamilton’s competitive edge or was it something deeper which derailed the only driver to reach 100 pole positions and 100 Grand Prix wins?

 

 

 

F1’s new ground effect era

The big change in 2022 was the new style of chassis design. In an attempt to improve overtaking and reduce the impact of a driver being stuck close being another competitor, some 50% of the downforce was removed from the top of the cars aerodynamic components. There lost downforce was replaced with the ‘ground effect’ style floor, whose function was to suck the down onto the track.

This new breed of F1 car had been tried in the late 1970’s but abandoned after several huge crashes where the underfloor downforce had suddenly disappeared. Whilst the ground force designs gave those cars on which it was implemented an improvement in pace, many of the existing drivers found the new breed of cars difficult to drive. Some complained of “sea sickness” as the car would rise and dive very quickly, like a porpoise diving in and out of the sea as it swims at sea.

The huge difference in ground effect cars is the fact the centre of pressure moves at incredible speed underneath the floor of the car depending on the speed, attitude and ground clearance. These forces interact with the cars suspension systems which then begin to resonate creating at ties a violent kind of bouncing.

Whilst Mercedes did not build the best of the new breed of F1 cars in 2022, Hamilton struggled way more than his junior team mate in the new aerodynamic era. Come the third season of ground effect F1 cars, Hamilton looked all at sea when compared to his younger team mate. He was thrashed 19-5 in qualifying by Russell in 2024 with his average grid starting position more than three places below his team mate.

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Are Ferrari designing their 2026 car to favour Hamilton?

Russel also finished ahead of Lewis 15-9 in the Grand Prix although their average finishing position across the year was almost identical. Believing a move from Mercedes might reset his racing career, Hamilton decided to enact the clause in his contract that allowed him to shift teams after just one year of the ink having dried.

Now at Ferrari Lewis is fairing little better against his new team mate Charles Leclerc, now 8-4 down in qualifying and 10-2 in areas in terms of Grand Prix finishing position. There’s been much talk that the current SF-25 has not been designed to suit Hamilton’s driving stye preferences and suggestions in the Italian media the engineers in Maranello are creating a challenger for 2026 that will make their new driver feel more comfortable behind the wheel.

However, Charles Leclerc this week has countered these reports stating the next Ferrari F1 car will not be built to suit Lewis Hamilton’s driving style. “I’m not concerned at all because it’s always a big talking point outside the team,” Leclerc said at the British Grand Prix when it was put to him Ferrari may be shifting the characteristics of next years car towards alleged Hamilton preferences.

“Within the team, we’ve got all the tools to adapt a car to my way in terms of driving style or to Lewis’ style. So I don’t think that’s the problem, and I just want the fastest car possible next year. That’s exactly what Lewis wants, and then wherever we are next year, I’ll set up the car in a way that I like, and Lewis will do just the same,” reported the Monegasque.

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Leclerc calls for fastest F1 car design

In the modern era of F1 the cars are far more adjustable than they once were, and the teams have a variety of tools to analyse the effects of setup changes in an attempt to find the ‘perfect’ balance. To this end Leclerc says, “I’m really not worried about it,” he continued. “I think we are in a time where, now in Formula 1, the engineers and with where the technology is at, we just need the fastest car.

“We just put the fastest car on track, and then we’ve got all the freedom available. It’s not like back in 10 or 15 years ago where you were a bit stuck into a corner in terms of balance and you didn’t have the tools to make the car go faster. Now we do have those tools, so I’m definitely not worried.”

Its extremely tough for anyone once at the top of their sport, to encounter a change in the equipment they’ve been used to for a decade and a half. Yet the cold hard truth is Hamilton is one of those drivers who cannot change his driving style to suit the demands of the ground effect cars – and sadly for Ferrari whatever they build this is not going to change.

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More ground effect in ,2026

Having trailed home in a miserable seventh place in this year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix whilst his team mate claimed a podium Hamilton rued the current era of F1 car design describing it as “the worst.” Lewis appears to believe the next generation of cars coming in 2026 may be more to his liking: “With less ground-effects, let’s hope things that things shift.”

Yet Hamilton who admits he doesn’t know much about the design of next seasons cars will be sad to hear, that ground effect remains the significant downforce component that is has been since 2022.

While Max Verstappen can handle a car that’s permanently on a knife edge in terms of losing grip as the centre of pressure under the car shifts dramatically, Hamilton’s dominant Mercedes’ cars were all planted firm through the variety of corners across the plethora of circuit designs. And with the F1 ground effect car design now extended until at least 2028, the seven times world champion may find himself running out of road.

 

 

 

Marko now next in lie for the Red Bull chop

All it took was a kiss on the cheek and the revolutionary leader was identified to his enemies and condemned to death.  There have been numerous poetic explorations over the centuries of Judas’ betrayal which include themes of guilt, damnation even self pity and a tragic misunderstanding of the future.

This week the Red Bull Racing folk in Milton Keynes experienced their own Machiavellian betrayal as their founder and leader of some 20 years, was stabbed in the back by distant men in grey suits. As the mainstream media pours out tomes of nonsense in an attempt to justify the treacherous act with performance, the brain alleged Milton Keynes brain drain, a failure to recruit…. are all recurring themes which have been presented as part of the reasoning.

The reality is simple. Red Bull Racing has been run since its inception by Christian Horner, with Didi Mateschitz practically giving him free rein to do whatever he pleased. Horner is the second most successful team boss in F1 history, only McLaren’s Ron Dennis won more Grand Prix….. READ MORE