Lewis Hamilton has endured a difficult second half to his 2024 season with Mercedes having struggled to produce the same results as teammate George Russell.
Although Hamilton took a stunning victory at the British Grand Prix earlier this year, his record ninth time winning the race, the seven-time world champion has struggled to recapture the glory years with Mercedes.
Since the switch to ground effect cars in 2022, Hamilton has only achieved two Grand Prix victories and a single pole position in Hungary 2023. Mercedes admitted that it got their car concept wrong at the beginning of the regulation cycle, which put them on the back foot as they tried to catch up to rivals.
The W15 proved to be another difficult car at first, but since introducing the US GP upgrades Russell has been close to the top four positions and dominated in victory at Las Vegas.
By contrast, Hamilton has struggled to get the most out of the package and often suffered early exits from qualifying which has put him further down the order. Naomi Schiff believes Mercedes engineers have switched to Russell’s driving style, now they know Hamilton is leaving.
At one stage during the Qatar GP, Hamilton could be heard pleading with his engineer Peter Bonnington to retire the car. Discussing his recent downturn in his latest column for BBC Sport, journalist Andrew Benson revealed some insight into what is going on behind the scenes with Hamilton.
Mercedes lost as to why Lewis Hamilton struggling more than George Russell in W15
Hamilton’s race in Qatar was marred by a series of rookie errors, including a start infringement whereby he anticipated the lights too quickly and triggered the grid sensor.
According to Benson, there is ‘nobody’ at Mercedes who knows why Hamilton is struggling more than Russell in the W15 which has proven to be a tough car to get into the right operating window.
“The fact he has been comprehensively out-paced by team-mate George Russell in qualifying, and his general struggles with the car, have been a surprise. And nobody – not Hamilton, not Mercedes – seems to really be able to explain why Hamilton has has had these problems,” said Benson.
“What’s certain is that he has simply not got on with this year’s Mercedes car, which he finds unpredictable, and he’s not been able to cope with its idiosyncrasies as well as Russell.”
Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton enjoy final race together after 11-year partnership
The Abu Dhabi GP will be the final race that Hamilton takes part for Mercedes as he is set to join Ferrari in the 2025 season and beyond.
During their 11-year partnership Hamilton has managed to win six Drivers’ Championships and seven Constructors’ titles with the Silver Arrows, marking it one of the all-time most successful driver and car combinations.
| Stat | Number |
| Poles | 78 |
| Wins | 84 |
| Championships | 6 |
There will be a lot of anticipation over whether Hamilton improves at Ferrari, given Charles Leclerc thinks they will have a car capable of winning the title.
Although Red Bull’s Helmut Marko expects Max Verstappen to still be the benchmark driver to beat in 2025, despite their struggles in the latter part of this year.
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