By Joe Murphy
Lewis Hamilton has endured a painfully miserable start to 2024. The seven-time champion hasn’t been on form, nor has the car performed as either fans expected or would like. There are a number of reasons why the British driver is struggling.
Firstly, announcing a move to a rival a full twelve months in advance has definitely played a part. Ferrari know their driver is locked in, Hamilton knows so he can relax and Mercedes know which makes Lewis suddenly not as much of a longer-term priority. Between Lewis and George, Mercedes are now starting to lean towards the latter on the basis that he will be with them next year. Lewis can now metaphorically go to the beach, his year doesn’t matter in the sense he is guaranteed a drive for 2025.
Furthermore, Mercedes aren’t performing anywhere near the standards they should be. Whilst nobody expected Mercedes to be World Champions this year, I don’t think anybody thought that gap in pace would actually increase. At the moment, they are comfortably the fifth quickest team on the grid and not in the same league as Red Bull, something that both Hamilton and Russell acknowledged at points during the Australian Grand Prix, describing Sergio’s car as a “rocket”.
Speaking of George, what also isn’t helping matters is that you have George outperforming Lewis on a regular basis now. And it is not even as if George Russell is doing exceptionally well. As we saw on Sunday around Albert Park on the final lap, he still very much has a mistake in him. Yet he is still the one Mercedes are having to hang their hat on to get points this year, it seems. Lewis didn’t even manage to get into Q3 this past weekend. He was behind the likes of Tsunoda and Stroll. That in itself speaks volumes.
And finally, perhaps the scariest reason as to why Lewis looks a shadow of himself; perhaps the peak has happened. Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and most notably, Max Verstappen, have shown they can not only hang with Lewis, but out perform him. The hunger is clearly still there, and age isn’t a problem when you consider the performances that Fernando Alonso is showcasing in his Aston Martin. Fans go back to it so frequently but with good reason, the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is still having an impact to this day.
Can Lewis respond and win an eighth World Championship? At the moment you’d have to say it’s gone from maybe to probably not.
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