Lewis Hamilton has been an immensely successful F1 driver over the years. He has won the most driver’s world championship titles, jointly with the German great Michael Schumacher, a record seven times. Albeit, over the last two years, the Briton has somehow lost his grip on the titles. Clearly, the new champion from the Netherlands, Max Verstappen, is leading the motorsport really well by securing two world titles back-to-back.
Apparently, it is not Hamilton’s fault. But the W14 car that Mercedes is providing him with is an absolute mess. Lewis Hamilton is doing the best he can with the W14 car, but it is not helping that much. However, it seems his teammate George Russell is having a bit of better luck with the car’s technology and design.
A New Problem In W14 Is Bugging Lewis Hamilton
After the Saudia Arabian Grand Prix, it is evident that Russell has a better understanding of the car than Hamilton. In the Jeddah Grand Prix, Russell finished third. Albeit Fernando Alonso had the P3 position. But after a 10 seconds penalty, the young driver of Mercedes got third place behind the two Red Bull drivers. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton finished at P5 as he did in Bahrain Grand Prix. So what is really troubling the seven-time champion?
However, Hamilton later mentioned that a specific element in the design of the W14 car is not really suiting him. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff revealed that Hamilton’s problem won’t get fixed very soon. It takes time to change these design elements. Perhaps it is safe to say that Lewis Hamilton can drop his dream of winning the eighth title this year. Either he will need to change teams or have to wait for Mercedes to provide him with a suitable car to his taste in the following years. However, Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he is not thinking about leaving Mercedes any time soon.
What Is Really Wrong With The W14 Car?
Clearly, Hamilton really wants the coveted eighth title, and so do his fans all over the world. After the P5 finish in Jeddah, he mentioned that the team needs to work on picking up the rear-end downforce. The Mercedes driver said that due to a lack of rear, he is not confident enough to go full throttle. Other than the rear-end problem, there is another issue that is bugging Hamilton about which he was not keen to talk about in public. The seven-time champ reckoned that it is something he has never experienced before, but it is making him very uncomfortable.
Meanwhile, the boss is aware of that but said fixing it would take some time. Lewis Hamilton mentioned that he wouldn’t get the desired result with that issue in the car, but he would do his best to overcome that obstacle. On the other hand, the Brackley team must be thrilled to beat Ferrari in Jeddah. Hamilton mentioned that it must be the smooth track of Jeddah that helped his team to beat the Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz duo. The seven-time champ also said that their current focus is to close the gap between them and Aston Martin.
