Lewis Hamilton endured a frustrating Japanese Grand Prix having failed to pass both Mercedes drivers to get into the top five.
The seven-time world champion went into the race weekend off the back of disqualification in China due to technical infringement, which Ferrari traced back to their car setup over the Sprint weekend.
Ferrari changed their car’s suspension at Suzuka to avoid a similar fate, having identified a part on their floor which was underperforming.
It meant Hamilton and Charles Leclerc could not challenge McLaren or eventual winner Max Verstappen, while the Briton only managed to overtake Isack Hadjar for P7.
Hamilton could be heard frustrated over team radio with engineer Riccardo Adami, which Peter Windsor believes is something he would not do in the earlier stages of his career when speaking on the Cameron CC podcast.
Peter Windsor thinks Lewis Hamilton’s ‘cry of frustration’ against Kimi Antonelli
Hamilton reached 40 years old in January making him the second oldest driver on the grid behind Fernando Alonso. If he wins an eighth world title, Hamilton will be the first driver since Jack Brabham to achieve the feat.
Although Hamilton has not been fussed about getting older impacting his driving, Windsor believes we saw signs of his age and added frustration when speaking to his engineer during the race in Japan.
“Lewis is 40 years old and I think because of that he just thinks about everything more. I think he’s impervious to what the press say, but I do think he thinks about things more as he gets older. If you’re 21 you just do it on gut feeling,” said Windsor.
“That’s the difference now, he’s at an age where he’s thinking more and about why Kimi Antonelli is getting away from him and why he’s on hard tyres.
“That to me was a real cry of frustration because even having got the information that he wanted, it didn’t help him anyway.”
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Lewis Hamilton wants Ferrari to improve car after disappointing start to the season
Ferrari’s start to the year has been messy with the double disqualification in China, strategy mistake in Australia, and difficult weekend in Japan.
Hamilton is dealing with the same problem he had at Mercedes, with Ferrari having to find the right compromise between ride height and car setup.
During the pre-season, Hamilton spent long hours at the Ferrari factory in their simulator and took plenty of time up doing test session in old cars under the Testing of Previous Cars rules.
It has enabled him to work with engineers more closely to identify problems, which Ferrari believes can be sorted to put them back on the right track towards challenging rivals. But the start of the season has put them on a significant backfoot for the rest of the year, which could impact their title chances.
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