"Lewis Hamilton has got to dig unbelievably deep now" - F1 pundit feels the Mercedes driver could suffer from a drop in motivation

Prominent F1 journalist Peter Windsor believes Lewis Hamilton must dig 'unbelievably deep' to succeed once again in the sport. The seven-time world champion is becoming increasingly frustrated with Mercedes, which has struggled to compete with the front runners since early 2022.

Hamilton experienced his first winless season in 2022 due to issues with his Mercedes car, specifically porpoising. He had hoped to start his pursuit of an eighth title with the W14 in 2023.

However, in the first two races of the season, Hamilton has not finished higher than fifth. He has been outperformed by his teammate George Russell in qualifying in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Peter Windsor, a former Williams and Ferrari team manager, expressed concern on his YouTube channel that Mercedes' poor performance could dampen Hamilton's motivation.

"In a way, this is worse than last year from his point of view. Last year was the shock of the car, the porpoising, how difficult it was to drive and that was the sort of universal thing. But now you’ve got George getting the best from the car, the car’s not porpoising anymore – it’s not physically as difficult to drive as it was last year but it’s obviously not a quick car in the Red Bull sense of the word."

Windsor continued his analysis on Lewis Hamilton:

“Lewis has got to dig unbelievably deep now to keep his motivation and to be the racer that he is."

Meanwhile, Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have secured consecutive one-two finishes, suggesting they are in a dominant position. Mercedes is planning to abandon their current car concept, which could also mean a difficult road ahead for the seven-time world champion.

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Lewis Hamilton claims he will 'win again'

Lewis Hamilton

Despite his team's current form, Lewis Hamilton maintains confidence in his ability to win at least one more race in the sport. His most recent victory was in Jeddah at the end of the 2021 season, where he engaged in a title battle with Max Verstappen.

However, Hamilton's performance in the 2022 season had been lacklustre in terms of victories, as he failed to secure a win, making it his worst statistical year in the sport.

The world champion also struggled for pace at the 2023 Saudi Arabian GP, finishing behind his teammate in P5.

Speaking about his chances in the sport at a press conference ahead of the 2023 Saudi Arabian GP, where Sportskeeda was present, Lewis Hamilton said:

"Yeah, I will win again. It's just going to take some time. Of course, in 2021, when we were here, we were hoping to be fighting for another World Championship. You know, you never know what's up ahead. There will be things that happen in all of our lives that we least expect. But it's not how you fall, it's how you get up."

Given Hamilton's mediocre result in Jeddah, it remains to be seen if we will see the seven-time world champion on the top step of the podium this year.