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Lewis Hamilton's 2022 F1 season was supposed to be a season of redemption following a stellar championship battle in 2021. His championship loss came after a controversial call by stewards, a hotly debated topic until today. Unfortunately, Hamilton's 2022 season was mired in poor performances from the car and inconsistent driving throughout the season. His final race ended anti-climactically.
Hamilton has neither won a race nor secured a pole position last season. This was the first time he failed to secure consistent podium finishes. To make matters worse, he was outperformed by teammate George Russell who debuted with Mercedes earlier this year. Of all the expectations that Lewis Hamilton had from the season, this was certainly not on the list.
However, not everything was terrible. The race in Brazil was impressive, and so was the 5-race podium streak from Canada to Hungary. But the season was largely a tale of poor performances. The following section dives into three of Hamilton's worst drives.
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Lewis Hamilton will likely want to forget about these three
1) F1 Imola GP
Could there be anything more humiliating than getting lapped by the driver you competed against for the title just a few months ago? The race at Imola was painful viewing for every Hamilton fan. The driver spent the sprint and race stuck in traffic while his teammate masterfully navigated through the grid.
Mercedes' lack of straight-line speed hurt Hamilton as he could not make amends for the poor grid position. The driver was mostly stuck behind Pierre Gasly as he could not find a way to overtake the AlphaTauri.
The lack of desperation from Hamilton was quite surprising. He did not attempt to pull last minute, overtake or push beyond the limit. Hamilton was quite content to wait for an opportunity to present itself. Unfortunately, for him, that opportunity never came as he finished the race in P13.
Meanwhile, George Russell finished in P4, proving that Mercedes have the caliber to push to the top. It was a catastrophic race for Hamilton and went on to define the pace of the season.
2) F1 Singapore GP
Lewis Hamilton has not done well in wet-weather conditions this season. The race in Singapore was problematic for the Mercedes driver. A car that looked competitive early on in the weekend was stuck in traffic behind Carlos Sainz as the lead group got away. At this point, however, Lewis Hamilton went straight into the barrier and damaged his car.
This incident dropped him out of contention for a win as he lost the podium. Later in the race, while trying to defend his position from Max Verstappen and attack Sebastian Vettel simultaneously, Hamilton's late lunge left him with nowhere to go as he overshot the braking point.
3) F1 Japanese GP
The race in Suzuka was primarily focused on Esteban Ocon putting on a masterclass in defense against Lewis Hamilton. It all started in qualifying, where Ocon, in the Alpine, out-qualified both Mercedes drivers.
While Mercedes was notoriously bad over a single lap this season, the car had shown several signs of performance issues. This was evident during the race as Lewis Hamilton hounded Esteban Ocon for more than 20 laps.
But the overtake never came. Hamilton kept trying for ways to get past Ocon but was unable to succeed. While all credit goes to Ocon for not losing his position, it was a bit strange to see a car that was much quicker but unable to pass.
Suzuka is not the best track for overtaking, but it is undoubtedly not Monaco, where there is no room to overtake in mixed conditions. It was disappointing to see Hamilton not develop a solution to the problem. He ultimately settled for a finish behind the Alpine driver.
Honorable mention
The honorable mention does go to Hamilton's race in Belgium. His race did not last long as he collided with Fernando Alonso during the first lap, resulting in a DNF.
It was an uncharacteristic move from the Mercedes driver as he moved into the Alpine at the braking point, assuming Alonso was not inside. This was one of the more egregious fouls from him all season. It didn't make it to the list because Hamilton's race didn't last long enough to be evaluated.
