Lewis Hamilton 'is having to hustle' his Mercedes, says F1 pundit

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has had a rough start to the 2022 season and F1 pundit Martin Brundle claims that unlike ever before, the Briton seems to feel the need to hustle his 2022 Mercedes challenger. George Russell, on the other hand, seems to have adapted to the car pretty well early on in his first season with the Silver Arrows and has outperformed his teammate on several occasions, including Saturday's qualifying session ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.

In his commentary for Sky Sports during today's session, Brundle spoke about the visible difference in Lewis Hamilton's performance and comfort with his car this season:

“This car just doesn’t talk to Lewis in the way that he likes a car to talk to him. We have had years of Lewis being absolutely precise everywhere and he is fighting, he doesn’t know what the car is going to do next. Lewis is having to hustle, and that is not how we are used to him driving a Mercedes. George seems to be able to be more precise with the car.”

Mercedes has seen a clear improvement in performance this weekend in Barcelona and will certainly hope to be in the mix for a podium finish, if not a race win, on Sunday.

---

Helmut Marko defends Lewis Hamilton over jewelry regulations set by the FIA

In a rare turn of events, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has spoken up in favor of Lewis Hamilton's protests against the FIA's new regulations regarding jewelry.

As reported by Express, the Austrian defended Hamilton's actions, claiming that the "individuality of each driver" must be accepted and respected. He said:

“I think they have gone too far. This should be a personal decision of the drivers. I don’t remember how long Hamilton has been in F1, but he has been wearing this jewellery all these years. So why did they suddenly decide to invent this topic? I think we have enough other things to worry about. We must accept and respect the individuality of each driver. Do I side with Hamilton? Yes I do - and this is my honest opinion.”

Marko has been blantly critical of Hamilton on public platforms over the years, making this possibly the first time ever that he has offered any support to the Mercedes driver.