James Hinchcliffe outlines what he loved seeing from Lewis Hamilton at the Las Vegas Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton grabbed his fifth podium of the 2024 season at the Las Vegas Grand Prix in what was a dominant weekend for Mercedes.

The Silver Arrows displayed great pace all weekend as they topped the time sheets in every practice session. The seven-time champion went fastest in FP1 and FP2, and Karun Chandhok was loving Hamilton in practice as he seemed to have confidence in his car – a rare occurrence this year.

George Russell set the pace in FP3 for Mercedes and carried the momentum into qualifying as he snatched pole position from Carlos Sainz by just under a tenth of a second.

But Russell’s teammate’s Saturday woes came back to haunt him as Hamilton made mistakes on his flying laps and could only manage 10th for the race. Qualifying has been a serious issue for the 39-year-old this season, and Mercedes think Hamilton is ‘pushing too hard’ in the final moments of Q3, hampering his performance.

Nevertheless, Hamilton put his qualifying disappointment behind him on Sunday as he climbed through the field to finish a brilliant second. Russell commanded the race to win his third Grand Prix and give Mercedes their first one-two finish since 2022.

James Hinchcliffe loved seeing Lewis Hamilton’s disappointment at the Las Vegas Grand Prix

Consistent results have been hard to come by for Hamilton in 2024 as he has again struggled to extract the most out of his Mercedes machinery.

The 39-year-old’s strong showing in Las Vegas is a sign that the W15 can have its moments of brilliance, and Hamilton was left feeling that a victory would have been on the cards if he had qualified higher on Saturday.

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Writing in his column for the F1 website, James Hinchcliffe loved to see Hamilton ‘disappointed with second place’ as the Canadian was in awe over how the seven-time champion was ‘truly in harmony’ with his car.

“What we saw on Saturday night was a glimpse of the old Hamilton – the seven-time champion who can mercilessly scythe his way through the field seemingly on command. This is the kind of drive we get when he’s truly in harmony with his race car,” he said.

“Mercedes’ struggles in the ground effects era have meant the frequency with which he feels this way have been few and far between, but the way he made up for his qualifying errors by putting on a clinic on race day should make every Hamilton fan salivate at the thought of him in a regularly competitive car in 2025.

“He no doubt went to bed wondering what could have been if he had nailed his Q3 attempt, but I love seeing the Lewis Hamilton who’s disappointed with second place.”

Lewis Hamilton will be wanting to leave Mercedes with one more win

As the 2024 season nears its conclusion, Hamilton has just two more races before he waves goodbye to Mercedes and makes his sensational move to Ferrari.

It has not been the farewell season that the 39-year-old would have been hoping for. His teammate Russell has beaten him in the qualifying and Grand Prix battle and is currently nine points behind him in seventh in the drivers’ championship – the lowest position of his career.

But Hamilton has had some success in his final year with the Silver Arrows. The Brit secured his record ninth win at Silverstone and won again at Spa – these being his first wins since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2021.

After Las Vegas, Mercedes have the package to challenge at the front in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, and Hamilton will be eager to get to the top step of the podium again before he switches silver for red.

But Jenson Button fears Hamilton may feel some doubt if he is to win with Mercedes again, as he could be left wondering if he made the right call to join Ferrari.