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Lewis Hamilton being rated lower than Max Verstappen in F1 2024 doesn't come as a surprise for Red Bull driver Liam Lawson. The marquee Formula 1 game released its driver ratings recently and to many, it came as a surprise that Lewis had 89 driver ratings points, while Max was 7 points ahead with 96.
A lot of it has been attributed to the turmoil in the sport since the 2021 F1 season, when Lewis Hamilton was challenged, arguably for the first time in the turbo hybrid era by Max Verstappen. The two drivers had more or less comparable cars and teams and in many ways, it came down to the individual and luck.
By the time the season ended, Max Verstappen was considered the better driver by many, and that belief has only solidified in the last few seasons. The driver has gone on to beat plenty of single-season records, many of which were held by Lewis Hamilton at the time.
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Lewis, on the other hand, has had a rocky ride, the driver was outscored by teammate George Russell in 2022. In 2023, he bounced back and beat his teammate. In 2024, however, once again, Lewis Hamilton has been struggling to keep up with his teammate at Mercedes.
Red Bull driver Liam Lawson was not too surprised by the ratings; he felt that Max Verstappen was driving at a very high level. He told talkSPORT:
“I think it’s fair, to be honest. I think it’s fair. I think Max right now is in a very, very strong [run of form]. Obviously, the team’s very, very strong and have been for the last couple of years, but Max is also driving at a level that’s very, very high."
He added,
“Not that Lewis isn’t – I fully believe that he’s still obviously very, very competitive – but I don’t know. It’s really hard to tell because in Formula 1 you can only compare to your team-mates. Honestly, it’s really hard to compare team to team. You can really only compare with the guy that’s in the same car as you.”
Lewis Hamilton's reflection on a tough weekend in Canada
Lewis Hamilton didn't have the best weekend in Canada. The Mercedes driver could only qualify in P7 while his teammate was on pole. Lewis made up places in the race but overall he would finish P4 while George Russell secured the team's first podium. Looking back at the weekend, Lewis said,
“It was just over the weekend a really poor performance from myself. Some other things came into it [in qualifying], but mostly myself and today just one of the worst races that I’ve driven. Just lots of mistakes. Of course if I’d qualified better, I would have been in a much better position, so it is what it is. I will go back to the drawing board."
He added,
“On the positive note, big, big thanks to everyone back at the factory for progressing this car, because it is becoming a car we can fight with. That’s the real positive going into this next part of the season. I know we have hopefully some more upgrades coming, they’re on the way, so it’s going to be a close battle. And if I get my head on right, I’ll get better results.”
It will be interesting to see how Lewis bounces back from this. The F1 legend is one of the ace drivers on the grid since his debut and will be looking to find a way back to the top.
