Lewis Hamilton’s ‘family and friends’ believe Mercedes are ‘deliberately’ doing one thing to hurt him

Lewis Hamilton is enduring one of his worst Formula 1 seasons in 2024. He announced back in the winter that he was leaving Mercedes to join Ferrari next year.

Some believe that those two things are connected. Hamilton has never made that accusation himself, and there’s certainly no firm proof.

George Russell extended his intra-team qualifying advantage to an alarming 17-5 by taking pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Friday night. Hamilton will start the race from 10th place after two mistakes in Q3.

The seven-time world champion has shown his class on occasion this year. Most notably, he claimed an emotional victory in a wet/dry home race at Silverstone, ending a two-and-a-half-year drought.

But for the most part, he’s looked uncomfortable in his enigmatic W15. After a season-worst P10 at the Sao Paulo GP (counting only the races he’s finished) he fell below Russell in the standings.

Hamilton has finished in the top six in all 17 of his F1 seasons to date. But that streak could now come to an end.

Some of Lewis Hamilton’s family and friends believe Mercedes are holding him back

Hamilton ‘scorned’ Mercedes by deciding to join Ferrari, The Mail’s Jonathan McEvoy writes in his latest ‘F1 Confidential‘ column. He had the option to leave at the end of 2024 under his contract.

McEvoy has learned that ‘some of Hamilton’s greatest admirers’, and that includes ‘family and friends’, suspect that he’s being ‘deliberately held back’ by his team this year. It’s unclear why they would sabotage one of their drivers.

Perhaps it’s natural to gravitate towards Russell, who will be the senior presence in the garage next year alongside 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli. But equally, Hamilton has won a record six world championships with Mercedes, so there’s likely a feeling of gratitude to go along with their professional values.

Even if he doesn’t consider the constructors’ championship a priority, Toto Wolff needs to tap into Hamilton’s expertise to improve the car. More so than any of their rivals, Mercedes seem perplexed by their challenger.

Why did Mercedes apologise to Lewis Hamilton after Las Vegas Grand Prix qualifying?

McEvoy previously reported that Hamilton has ‘clocked out’ at Mercedes. He spoke openly after the Sao Paulo GP about wanting the season to end.

Hamilton’s comments ‘confused’ Karun Chandhok, but he looked well-placed to bounce back in Vegas. He was quickest in both Friday practice sessions, as well as Q2.

Had he replicated his Q2 lap in the top 10 shoot-out, he would have been third on the grid ahead of Pierre Gasly. Instead, it’s highly unlikely that he’ll be a factor in the victory fight.

Mercedes engineer Peter Bonnington apologised to Hamilton over the radio after the chequered flag. There’s no indication that the team were partly responsible, so it may simply have been a sympathetic remark.