"He did not look aggressive enough" - Lewis Hamilton could quit F1 after sending Mercedes an ultimatum to develop its car, says former F1 champion

Lewis Hamilton had possibly one of the worst weekends of his F1 career last weekend at the Imola Grand Prix after failing to make an appearance in Q3 in Friday's qualifying. The Briton was unable to make up for a poor qualifying and sprint race, leaving Italy with zero points in the bag while his team-mate George Russell managed an impressive fourth-place finish in the main race on Sunday.

As reported by the Express, former F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve commented on Hamilton's weekend at Imola, emphasizing that the Briton simply did not seem to have the fighting spirit we're used to seeing in the seven-time world champion. The Canadian said:

“A big star like Lewis [Hamilton] is great if you win but, if you don’t, the backlash is so much bigger. A champion doesn’t have the right to be uncompetitive. We’ve been surprised in the past. It has happened before that champions sometimes say they’ve just had enough. As Toto Wolff, do you choose your megastar, your poster boy, the record-breaking champion with the international image who costs you a mega sum of money? Or do you develop the car for the promising talent?”

The 1997 F1 world champion went on to add, saying:

“In the meantime, Mercedes need to learn how to lose now. George Russell is doing a good job as underdog, but he learned this at Williams, while Hamilton always had something to fight for. He [Hamilton] didn’t look aggressive enough at Imola - like he couldn’t even fight. It’s not easy being the head of the Mercedes team right now.”

George Russell has outperformed Lewis Hamilton on several occasions in the 2022 F1 season so far. The young driver has demonstrated exceptional consistency, extracting every ounce of potential from the W13.

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"Changes in the hierarchy" - Ralf Schumacher on Lewis Hamilton's role in Mercedes

Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, in his column for Sky, also speculated on what could be going on behind doors at the Silver Arrows. Lewis Hamilton is undoubtedly the team leader at Mercedes, given his experience with the team. The German, however, claims that his recent lack of performance as compared to Russell could potentially change the hierarchy within Mercedes. Schumacher said:

“If this continues in the coming weeks, it will also become tense in the team. There may be changes in the hierarchy. I am absolutely not saying that Lewis [Hamilton] has missed the boat to end his career. Lewis is still one of the best drivers in the field. That’s obvious.”

While George Russell refutes claims that he is not fighting for the role of the #1 driver at Mercedes, his significantly higher position in the drivers' standings could certainly bring about a change in the team.