formula 1
Suffering of the record world champion: Crisis surrounding superstar Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton will drive for Ferrari in Formula 1 next season. Photo
© Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/AP/dpa
Lewis Hamilton struggles more with his Formula 1 car than the competition. He has been waiting for his next victory for over 850 days. That gets on your nerves. Especially when there is still teasing.
The bare numbers are like that for you Lewis Hamilton frightening. 50 Formula 1 races and no more wins. 91 points behind World Cup leader Max Verstappen after just five Grand Prix.
Ninth three times this season, seventh once, and not even finishing once. And then his former teammate Nico Rosberg also teases. “Lewis is in a difficult phase. Also because he is actually already with another team,” said the Sky expert at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Internally, we’re only half there, said Rosberg, given Hamilton’s move to Ferrari and thus one of the closest competitors next season: “It’s quite possible that he won’t get all the data anymore.”
Team boss: It’s worse to lose an engineer
It remains to be seen to what extent Rosberg’s assessment, who defeated Hamilton in a toxic team and World Cup duel in 2016, is correct. It is clear, however, according to the unmistakable words of Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, “that the role of the driver in the development of the vehicle is always greatly overestimated.” It is worse to lose an engineer if he goes to another team twelve months later than a driver who changes teams next week. “There’s not a lot of outflow of know-how.”
At the moment, Hamilton probably couldn’t come up with any great secrets of success. On his farewell tour he is a long way from the superlatives from his years of success in the Mercedes. Hamilton celebrated his 103rd and last Grand Prix victory to date on December 5, 2021 in Saudi Arabia. It is practically impossible that the series of failures will end exactly two and a half years later for the USA lover at the first of three American races of the season in Miami.
When will Hamilton celebrate victory number 104?
Even if Wolff announced before leaving Shanghai: “We’ll put a little something on the car in Miami and see how it works. You always have to get up, even after results like these.” The next race will take place on May 5th.
Hamilton won seven world titles, including his first in 2008. Back then in the McLaren-Mercedes. After the 2012 season, the Brit moved to Mercedes, he became the successor to Michael Schumacher, in many respects. With his six further triumphs, Hamilton equaled his title record; he surpassed Schumacher’s victories (91), as well as many other records. Hamilton was one lap short of title number eight in 2021, a week after his last Grand Prix victory.
With the defeat in the drama finale in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton’s (Mercedes) star went down and Verstappen’s rise in the Red Bull to become the currently outstanding exceptional driver began. For the 26-year-old Dutchman, the first victory in China on Sunday was the 38th in the 49th race since his first World Cup triumph.
The fact that he himself is a constant point of contention between Mercedes team boss Wolff and Red Bull team boss Christian Horner does not seem to bother or affect Verstappen. Wolff keeps toying publicly with the three-time champion’s commitment to the outgoing Hamilton, which annoys Horner. Verstappen, however, appears confident and unwavering like Hamilton once did in his winning years.
Soon a foretaste of the Ferrari era
The Mercedes superstar is currently a long way from that. When it came to voting for the car for the race in China, Hamilton completely gambled away after surprisingly finishing second in the sprint. “I paid the price for it,” said Hamilton meekly. He also made a serious mistake in qualifying on Saturday, which resulted in 18th place on the grid. He apologized over the radio.
In the race, Hamilton mainly collected nagging points. The tires, the car, nothing was spared. Hamilton didn’t want to know that the ongoing Silver Arrows crisis could reinforce his decision to change. His future commitment to Ferrari was announced in February.
Hamilton emphasized before the race in Shanghai that he didn’t have to justify his decision. “There was never a moment where I questioned them and I don’t let other people’s comments influence me. Even now there are some who talk a lot of shit and that will continue until the end of the year.”