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Lewis Hamilton's weekend of misery at the Imola GP might have been a shocker for many of the new-age fans. The seven-time world champion finished the race 14th and was thoroughly outclassed by his teammate George Russell throughout the weekend. The race was just another instance where Hamilton lost out to Russell, who currently has a 21-point advantage in the championship table.
To be fair, Hamilton's performances this season as well as in 2021, although still at a very high level, have seen a drop in terms of fans' expectations. Last year, the Briton might have been 'robbed' in the last race of the season. Looking at the season in its entirety, however, Max Verstappen was comfortably the better driver of the two (and was voted so by drivers and team principals alike).
For anyone who has followed Hamilton's career closely, the supposed "dip" is not much of a surprise and is rather the effect of having a car that is, for a change, competitive with some of the best, yet not significantly better. The fall in Mercedes' dominance over the field has coincided with the seven-time world champion seemingly losing the status of being the best driver on the grid. In this piece, we take a look at how Lewis Hamilton's drop in form has some correlation with the Mercedes at his disposal.
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Perception of Lewis Hamilton when he drove a McLaren (2007-2012)
Let's start with the initial stages of Lewis Hamilton's career. The Briton leapfrogged to the top of the pecking order in his debut season in 2007. With a title win in 2008, he was considered the best driver on the grid. After that high, however, things changed as the 2009 season saw Hamilton unable to defend his title in a rather inferior McLaren.
The 2010 season saw him being paired with Jenson Button at McLaren and in a direct championship battle with Fernando Alonso at Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull. It was this phase of his career where Hamilton, in a rather competitive piece of machinery, battled against the likes of Alonso and Vettel in similarly paced cars. There was, of course, variance in performance, but the drivers had multiple battles where there was nothing to choose between the cars.
It was during this time that Lewis Hamilton made his name as one of the best drivers on the grid with wins like the one in Canada in 2010, China in 2011, Hungary in 2012, and many others. There were times when he was untouchable on the track and would dominate the field.
Concurrently, Hamilton never towered above any other driver during that time. While he had his moments, he had his off weekends as well. The Briton was fast, unbelievably fast. And he didn't like losing to his teammate, which became difficult as Button started challenging him. Hamilton lagged that guile and strategic acumen that helped you win races in mixed conditions. More importantly, he also lacked that ability to wring the neck of an uncompetitive car, something Alonso used to almost win the title in 2012.
During his time at McLaren, Lewis Hamilton proved that he belonged to the top-tier of drivers, with Alonso, Vettel, and Kimi Raikkonen. What he also displayed were shortcomings that only the best of the best can exploit. In a similarly paced car, he lost to Fernando Alonso for three years straight (2010-2012) and was even outscored by Jenson Button, his teammate. This consequently forced the pundits to not consider him the gold standard of racing in F1.
The switch to Mercedes papered over those cracks (2014-2020)
The introduction of new regulations was a boon for Mercedes as the team had a ridiculous headstart over the rest of the grid. It was a boon for Lewis Hamilton as well, who now had a car that was capable of fighting for the title. What also worked in his favor was Nico Rosberg as a teammate.
The German, a fantastic driver in his own right, was never the elite of the grid at the time. Neither was Valtteri Bottas, who replaced Rosberg in 2017. During this time, the perception of Lewis Hamilton changed. He was considered the best driver on the grid by experts and pundits alike.
Concurrently, however, the only true competitor that Hamilton had was his teammate. Sebastian Vettel's challenge in 2017 and 2018 faded with a slower Ferrari and a volatile Italian ecosystem. Hamilton didn't need to fight the best of the grid every weekend to win races and titles, he just had to fight Bottas.
Consequently, the pressure was lifted, the errors were gone, and even if he had an off weekend, Hamilton knew he could catch up with and beat his teammate. By the time he won his seventh title, The Briton was considered the most consistent driver on the grid who rarely made mistakes.
The challenge of competitive cars exposes the same flaws
In 2021, Mercedes was compromised heavily due to floor regulations. For the first time in many seasons, Lewis Hamilton was up against one of the elites of the sport in a car that was as good as his.
When this happened, the errors started creeping in. The stone-cold killer of the 2020 season, who everyone knew was inevitably going to win, was gone. Hamilton slid into the gravel at Imola, messed up the restart in Baku, and struggled in multiple other races. While there was controversy regarding the season ending, Max Verstappen received the nod from everyone as the better driver of the year.
Things have turned for the worse in 2022 as Lewis Hamilton has a midfield car at his disposal. Moreover, he has a hungry young driver as his teammate, who has spent most of his career in the midfield and is probably the future of Mercedes. As a result, the cracks that were papered over by a rocket ship of a car and not-so-capable teammates are now being exposed to the public.
The Briton is and will always be one of the best talents on the F1 grid and he should ideally be able to close that gap and even beat Russell this season. That perception that pundits had of him at the end of the 2020 F1 season, however, has surely taken a hit.
Also Check Out :-F1 Standings 2022
