'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
"We are here to cause havoc in the second half of the season." This was what Lewis Hamilton said when he was looking forward to racing in the second half of the season. The Mercedes driver at that point had scored 5 consecutive podiums out of which he finished P2 in the last two races. Mercedes had shown improvements and it was about time it got back to the front.
However, that did not happen as since then, Lewis Hamilton has put together a DNF, P4, P5, P9, and P5. His season has taken a negative turn. The Briton is currently having his worst F1 season ever, and his main rival on the grid, Max Verstappen, has won his second championship.
This has been a season of first for Lewis Hamilton, although not in the way he imagined,
Trending
Worst classification of Lewis Hamilton's career
The Mercedes driver has not had the kind of career that most drivers do. He did not debut with a midfield team or a backmarker. He debuted with a championship-contending team at McLaren in 2007.
In a career that spans around 15 years, Hamilton has fought at the sharp end of the grid for most of it. The driver has had competitive machinery, and at no point in his career has he finished lower than P5 in the championship. The Briton finished P5 in 2009 and 2011 with McLaren.
This season, however, he is at P6 in the championship, with Carlos Sainz in P5, 22 points ahead, and his teammate, George Russell, 27 points ahead. With just four races left and the kind of form Lewis Hamilton has displayed recently, this kind of points deficit will be tough to overhaul for him. Hamilton would be recording the worst championship finish of his career if he finishes P6 in the championship.
Losing to a non-F1 champion teammate
As we mentioned earlier, Lewis Hamilton has a 27-point deficit over George Russell. They have been very closely matched all season and while Lewis has had his fair share of highs and lows, George Russell has been very consistent. Throughout his career, Lewis Hamilton has only lost to two teammates. He lost to Jenson Button in 2011 and then to Nico Rosberg in 2016.
Both Rosberg and Button are former F1 world champions in their own right. Losing a world championship is not something that dents the legacy of any world champion. Having said that, with 27 points to make up in the next four races, Hamilton could be outscored by George Russell in his maiden season at Mercedes.
For a driver that lost out on a title in the last race of the previous season, losing out to his young teammate is not a good look.
Zero wins this season
Hamilton holds the enviable record of winning a race every season he has raced in F1. That kind of record and sustaining it for 15 years is something that even the legends on the current grid have been unable to do. Sebastian Vettel doesn't have that record, nor did Fernando Alonso or Max Verstappen.
The least number of race wins in a year from Hamilton is the one win he had in 2013 in his Mercedes debut. He has been close to winning races several times this season, but things have fallen just short on multiple occasions. With four races left on the tracks where straight-line speed will play a crucial role, a Mercedes win looks highly unlikely. The Briton might be close to ending the enviable streak of winning an F1 race every season he has raced in.
No pole positions to his name
Similar to the impressive haul of winning a race every season he has raced, Lewis Hamilton has also scored a pole position every season since 2007. The Mercedes driver scored his first pole position in Canada in 2007 and has since then become F1's most prolific qualifier. The driver has won more than a hundred pole positions, with the best season as a qualifier being the 2016 season, where he scored 12 pole positions.
Lewis Hamilton's worst season as a qualifier was the 2010 and 2011 seasons where he scored only 1 pole position with McLaren. While his teammate George Russell was able to nick the pole position in Hungary this season, Hamilton has been unable to do that. Hence, the Mercedes driver has not added to his tally this season. With four races left, pole position is not something one would bet on looking at the form guide. As a result, Hamilton might end up losing another enviable streak that he has accumulated in the last 15 years.
To make things clear, we're not saying that Lewis Hamilton has had a huge drop in performance this season and it has been the worst season in that respect. We are specifically talking about how statistically disastrous this season has been for the Briton.
Irrespective of whether the Mercedes driver can salvage some of the things in the last four races, these indicators clearly show how bad the season has been for the team and the driver.
