Lewis Hamilton continued to have a tough time at the racing circuit in Imola, where he finished in 13th place on Sunday. After the first four races, the seven-time world champ has slipped to the seventh spot, falling behind the top-ranked Leclerc by 58 points. Thus, it seems nearly impossible for Hamilton to secure his eighth championship title this year as Mercedes’ struggles with the W13 continue. Recently, Lewis Hamilton said winning the championship is still possible, but it does not seem to be a realistic feat.
Moreover, the 37-year-old finished 14th in Saturday’s Sprint qualifiers. The British racer recalled his struggles with McLaren’s car in 2009, where he had to face a lot of trouble before making mid-season gains and remerging for a title contention the following year. Hamilton finished the fifth that season, which has been the lowest Lewis has finished so far in the championship. The Briton has not been able to handle the troubles with Mercedes’ W13 resulting in him falling to the seventh spot after Sunday’s race.
During the eve of Emilian Romagna, Hamilton said that McLaren’s 2009 car was the worst that he ever had. He added that the W13 is not much different from the 2009 car. However, the Mercedes driver feels that the W13 has a lot of potential. Lewis Hamilton recalled that his former team fixed the car eventually and got back in the championship battle. Hence, Hamilton has faith in his current team to find a fix to their chronic porpoising issue.
Lewis Hamilton Believes That He Is Out of The 2022 Championship Battle:
Hamilton started Saturday’s race at P14 and fought to break into the Top 10. However, the former world champ spent most of the race following Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly and eventually finished in 13th place. Moreover, Verstappen lapped Hamilton by two-thirds distance.
Meanwhile, George Russell had another strong race where he managed to finish in the fourth spot. Russell started at the eleventh spot and managed to climb up to the sixth position in the opening lap. Eventually, George climbed a couple more spots to finish fourth. Elsewhere, Hamilton shocked everyone with his statement after the race in Imola. Lewis admitted after the race, “I am out of the championship, for sure, there’s no question about that.”
Hamilton feels that his chances of winning another championship this year are very bleak. However, he aspires to continue working hard and somehow try to pull the disappointing season back on track. It was a surprising comment by the British driver after just four races in the season, as Hamilton has won 103 races with seven championship titles throughout his career.
Further, Lewis Hamilton mentioned that winning the championship is still possible, but one needs to be realistic. Mercedes continues to struggle with the porpoising issue, which ultimately affects their performance on the track. The Silver Arrows certainly have a big problem, which is worsening with the limited budgets this season. Their W13 is almost over a second behind as compared to its rivals, Red Bull and Ferrari. Hamilton also shared that Mercedes does not have a solution to its problem. And it might take a while before they find a fix. Mercedes aims to stay in the race and keep an eye on their realistic positions. Although the Silver Arrows aspire to work harder to be in a better situation next year.
Moreover, Lewis Hamilton feels that his team needs to find a second-and-a-half to get ahead of frontrunners like Red Bull and Ferrari. The Silver Arrows will need to finish every race ahead of them until the end of the season to win. However, that does not seem to be the case with Mercedes. They are still struggling to find the right fix. Hamilton believes it will not be easy. And he is right because making a comeback to win the title after lagging behind by 58 would be a mammoth task for the seven-time world champ, who is heading towards the end of his F1 career.