Lewis Hamilton is enduring a frustrating end to his career at Mercedes as he hasn’t consistently challenged for race wins since 2021.
The Brackley-based team haven’t mastered the current generation of ground effect cars that were introduced in 2022.
Mercedes have had a blistering quick car at times as they hit a purple patch before the summer break, taking three wins in four races.
The second half of the season was more difficult as they only took one fortunate podium in Azerbaijan before a surprising one-two finish last time out in Las Vegas.
Hamilton in particular has struggled in qualifying and has only started on the front row for a Grand Prix once this season.
He is also struggling at the Qatar Grand Prix and could only manage sixth on the grid in qualifying and a significant margin behind George Russell.
Naomi Schiff explained on Sky Sports F1 that meetings in and around the weekend may be playing a part in his struggles before moving to Ferrari.
The Mercedes car may be being developed towards George Russell’s style
Hamilton will be moving to Ferrari for next season to partner Monegasque Charles Leclerc in a formidable driver line-up.
He will be replaced by the team’s junior driver, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who will become the youngest driver on the Formula 1 grid.
Hamilton leaving the team likely means that he has slowly been frozen out of engineering meetings, as the team would want to leave him with little information about next year’s car.
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Schiff explained Hamilton’s lacklustre end to his time at Mercedes before switching teams is difficult and it isn’t quite clicking on the track.
She said: “Just a shame because he’s only got really the rest of this weekend and next weekend to seal off a wonderful era with Mercedes.
“To be feeling so negative at this point is a little bit sad, I would say. I think maybe one other thing it could have to do with when he’s saying, a factor is out of his control is maybe because he’s decided to go to Ferrari, he’s being left out of more and more engineering meetings, maybe this car is slightly being developed more towards George’s driving style.
“You can tell that whatever it is, he’s not gelling with that car, and it doesn’t feel like the way we know Lewis Hamilton can light up. It’s just not happening at the moment. But they get a second chance at it this weekend.”
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc may be an incredibly strong line-up
Hamilton will partner Leclerc who has been blisteringly fast in qualifying and built the Ferrari team around him since joining in 2019.
Leclerc may be nervous about partnering Hamilton next season but the Monegasque driver has taken some superb victories this season.
If Ferrari hits the ground running, they may have the opportunity to compete for both championships, as they will have two capable drivers.
Hamilton may lag behind Leclerc in qualifying but he has still shown very competitive speed over a race distance such as in Las Vegas.
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