Lewis Hamilton is a Ferrari driver after leaving Mercedes after 12 years and trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin concedes the Formula 1 outfit failed the Briton.
The seven-time drivers’ champion shocked the world for the second time in his iconic career back in February 2024 when Hamilton confirmed he would move from Mercedes to Ferrari. It was a seismic moment as the 40-year-old triggered the release clause in his contract to go.
Hamilton had only put pen to paper on a one-plus-one-year contract extension at Mercedes in August 2023 that many believed would see him finish his Formula 1 career in Brackley. Yet the Stevenage-born star now has a chance to shine at the Scuderia beside Charles Leclerc.
Mercedes failed to ‘right the wrong’ of Lewis Hamilton losing the 2021 F1 title
Hamilton enduring his first-ever winless seasons in Formula 1 during 2022 and 2023 brought on his decision to quit Mercedes and replace Carlos Sainz at Ferrari. The Briton finally ended his drought last term, as Hamilton won a record ninth British Grand Prix plus the Belgian GP.
But 2024 also marked Hamilton’s worst season in Formula 1 since debuting with McLaren in 2007. Never before had he finished any term as low as seventh in the drivers’ standings. So, Shovlin now admits Mercedes failed Hamilton plus their quest to ‘right that wrong’ of 2021.
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Shovlin states Mercedes were ‘desperate’ to win another championship with Hamilton after losing the 2021 drivers’ title to Max Verstappen at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Dutchman stole the crown after then-race director Michael Masi manipulated the finish.
“The team will always look at these last three years,” Shovlin has told RacingNews365. “We desperately wanted to come back from 2021 to right that wrong and win a championship, but we didn’t produce a car to do that.
“We’ve been trying for the last three years and we still haven’t produced a car to do that, and we won’t stop trying. But when we gave him the right car, he’d stick it on pole [and] he can win races.”
Andrew Shovlin sees the same ‘dominant’ Lewis Hamilton despite Mercedes’ demise
Verstappen winning the 2021 title has haunted Mercedes since Masi manipulated the finish to the Abu Dhabi GP after interpreting the wording of the regulations to ensure the race did not finish under a safety car, as it should have and would have seen Hamilton claim the title.
But Mercedes dropped the ball after F1 re-introduced ground-effect regulations in 2022 and are still playing catch-up to the likes of Red Bull, who aced the rule changes. They also came fourth in the 2024 constructors’ championship as engine customer McLaren sealed the title.
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Yet despite their deficit on a circuit, Shovlin is adamant that Hamilton never lose his desire to win during what proved to be his final year at Mercedes. He points to the Briton’s drive in Sin City as one example as Hamilton charged from P10 to P2 in the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Shovlin added: “It was definitely not a different Lewis. You saw the same Lewis, the same drive [and] the same determination. But the results haven’t been there.
“That no doubt affected how happy we all are. But if you look at Las Vegas, when we gave him the car he needs, he is dominant.”
