Mercedes’ current situation “a grave concern” for Lewis Hamilton and Co. according to F1 journalists

Renowned F1 journalists Martin Brundle and Karun Chandhok recently talked about Lewis Hamilton's team's struggles in the 2024 F1 season.

Ever since the FIA changed the technical regulation in 2022, the Silver Arrows have been struggling to reach the top of the table and challenge for a world championship. After the infamous 2021 F1 season, where the German team and Lewis Hamilton competed with Red Bull and Max Verstappen for the title, their performance plummeted.

Mercedes tried unique concepts like zero sidepod design, but it failed miserably after they experienced porpoising. Even though the Brackley-based team implemented a completely new car concept in 2023, it was not enough for them to close the gap to the top teams like Ferrari and Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton kept complaining about the seating position and feeling disconnected from the car.

Speaking about Merecde's struggles on Sky Sports' F1 podcast, Martin Brundle said that the fact Lewis Hamilton's team had not understood the car yet was a massive issue. Brundle refused to guess what was wrong with the W15 since he had no clue.

"They've got to understand this car and I think that's a grave concern for all of the people there. There's a lot of very clever people, with a huge amount of resource, performance tools and budget. I'm not going to try and second guess what's wrong with it, or state what I think is wrong with it, because if they don't know, then I certainly don't know."

Karun Chandhok recalled how frustrated Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff sounded after the Japanese GP, where the W15 was around 45 seconds off the lead and around 25 seconds behind a non-Red Bull car.

"I think he's [Toto Wolff] a man who's frustrated. The best Mercedes was 45 seconds off the win but if we take the Red Bulls out of it, they were still 25 seconds behind the best non-Red Bull, which is a huge amount in a Grand Prix," Chandhok said.

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Lewis Hamilton reveals why he let George Russell by during the 2024 Japanese GP

Lewis Hamilton recently explained why he switched places with his teammate George Russell during the 2024 F1 Japanese GP.

During the race around Suzuka, Hamilton himself suggested switching positions with Russell on the team radio, which was quite surprising for many. Speaking to Sky Sports, he revealed that his car had damage from the beginning of the race, which made the car understeer a lot. He claimed that this was the main reason why he let George Russell by.

"I think I picked up a bit of damage at the beginning with Charles, he came around the outside. I had a huge understeer for the first stint. I couldn’t turn the car through any of the corners. That’s why I let George by."

George Russell finished P7 in the Japanese GP, while Lewis Hamilton ended up in P9.