Lewis Hamilton’s swansong season with his beloved Mercedes has been a mixed affair throughout, from victories to disappointments – it has been quite the ride.
In the first instance, it’s beautiful that he got to sign off from the Silver Arrows by taking multiple victories with them before leaving.
But surrounding the good moments has been a lack of qualifying pace and overall dominant performance by teammate George Russell.
Moving to Ferrari for 2025 gives him the chance to reset, but that will rely on him rediscovering his form and working well alongside Charles Leclerc.
Lewis Hamilton in a ‘negative spiral’ at Mercedes over ‘little things’
Hamilton’s last two races have gone wrong in so many ways, it’s almost comical for the seven-time champion – who found himself finishing 12th in the Qatar Grand Prix.
That was after two penalties, for jump-starting and speeding in the pit lane, before suffering a puncture on track.
READ MORE: Jenson Button thinks Lewis Hamilton made an error ‘you never see’ during the Qatar Grand Prix
A week earlier in Las Vegas, he failed to perform in qualifying and it cost him a chance at victory – a theme all too familiar to him this season.
Speaking to F1-insider.com’s YouTube channel, Ralf Bach believes that the little incidents that have hampered Hamilton this season have led him to spiral.
“Hamilton’s completely on the losing road right now, but it’s definitely not because he’s lost basic speed,” he said.
“Somehow he changes the team, then you’re in a negative spiral, then something happens, then something happens again and sometimes it’s little things that happen.
“The sum just leads to this negative spiral you notice he is really happy when he can end his Mercedes life and then set off for new shores, namely Ferrari.”
Will Ferrari provide the reset Hamilton needs?
Ferrari is a team that have shown a positive trajectory for a few years now, culminating in a championship finale this weekend where they are competing to end a 16-year title drought.
Lewis Hamilton is the exact driver who could help elevate them one more level to put them in a position to win both championships.
He will also be an excellent mentor for new teammate Leclerc, who showed good progression in his time alongside four-time champion Sebastian Vettel.
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Hamilton himself needs the support around him and settled surroundings to be able to rediscover his form – which is still there on the evidence of his recent race pace.
It will be a case of making sure he trains hard over the winter and turns up as prepared as possible to hit the ground running with his new team – who he stands a great chance of winning with.
