Lewis Hamilton is having one of the most difficult phases of his career during this year’s championship. The Briton has won four drivers’ championships with Mercedes and helped the racing team secure eight constructors’ championships in a row. However, this season has been completely different for the Silver Arrows and the Briton. They have fallen behind Ferrari and Red Bull in terms of outright pace.
Moreover, the W13’s porpoising issue has left Lewis fighting in the midfield instead of leading the race as he has done for most of his career. With Mercedes delivering the 37-year-old a great car every season, he has not gotten used to winning in a troubled car just yet. Meanwhile, his teammate George Russell has been a part of the struggles during his time at Williams. Thus, the 24-year-old has stayed ahead of Hamilton after the first race, where Lewis secured a podium in Bahrain.
Recently, the two-time world champ Fernando Alonso shed some light on Lewis Hamilton’s struggles this season. The Spanish driver welcomed the seven-time world champ into his world as Alonso has struggled with non-reliable cars for the better part of a decade. The 40-year-old won two consecutive championships in 2005 and 2006. He was Hamilton’s teammate at McLaren when the British racer debuted in F1. The Alpine driver explained that winning in F1 depends far more than the driver’s abilities. He revealed that certain aspects like the vehicle are not in the driver’s control sometimes. But these factors ultimately affect their performance on the racing circuit.
Fernando Alonso Welcomes Hamilton To His World
During a recent interview with BBC Sports, Fernando was asked about his former McLaren teammate’s struggle in the F1 2022 championship. The Spaniard said that the Briton is fighting the nature of the sport. He explained that sometimes a driver has a good car while other times they do not have a reliable vehicle and still have to fight to make progress during the season. Moreover, Alonso mentioned that this year’s championship has proved that drivers are very important in F1 but not extremely crucial.
Fernando added that Lewis is still driving at his best as he has done in the last eight years. However, the Mercedes driver has not been able to deliver the same level of results. Alonso mentioned that Lewis was dominating the sport, breaking all records and acquiring 100+ pole positions. However, times have changed quickly, and now the Briton finds himself a second behind the frontrunners. The Alpine driver added, “So, yeah-welcome.”
Alonso has won 32 GPS in his glorious career, which has spanned over two decades. However, the last time Fernando won a race was back in 2013 at home. He has failed to secure wins in the past decade. He explained why F1 is not the fairest sport as the package that the drivers have makes all the difference. Alonso shared that the same thing happened to him when he won two championships in 2005 & 2006, beating Micheal Schumacher frequently.
The Spaniard felt that his car was more reliable during that time and performed well. However, Alonso pointed out that packages don’t get enough praise as drivers are the ones who make it to the headlines. And the same thing is happening to Hamilton, according to his former teammate. It will be interesting to see if things turn around for Mercedes and Hamilton during the upcoming race in Spain during the weekend.
