Sir Lewis Hamilton is not having a better year than his Mercedes teammate, George Russell. However, Mercedes is having one of the worst starts to an F1 season ever. But Russell has performed somewhat better than his teammate. On the other hand, the seven-time champion had his worst start to a season this year. He has not yet managed to finish among the top five in any of the GPs so far in 2024. As a result, Hamilton’s young teammate is currently in 7th place in Driver’s standings. However, Lewis Hamilton is in 9th place.
Despite finishing at P9 in the Chinese Grand Prix, Hamilton managed a P2 finish in the first Sprint race of the ongoing season. Clearly, the Mercedes team is still unable to understand the design capabilities of their car. As for the seven-time champion racer, there have been different reactions from him after a certain session that suggests the Mercedes W15 is not making life easier for the drivers and engineers. But who’s fault is that, really? Lewis Hamilton hinted at engineers being responsible and not him. But George Russell said his senior teammate had a lot to do with the car design.
George Russell Hinted At Lewis Hamilton Being Responsible For Mercedes’ Poor Display In China
As per GP33, Lewis Hamilton shifted the blame to the Mercedes engineers after the race in Shanghai. He mentioned, “Designing the car is not my job.” In 2023, Hamilton had said that the W14 car was not good because the team has not taken his suggestions for designing the car. The seven-time champion was like, “I’ve driven so many cars all these years that I know exactly what it needs.” But Hamilton felt it was time for the engineers to accept that it was their fault for not listening to him. On the other hand, George Russell mentioned that his experienced teammate had a lot to do with the car design.
He added, “They have based the car design on Lewis’ wishes.” Compared to the last season, the seat position is further back. Then, Russell pointed at the Red Bull-style sidepods. On top of that, they also have a slightly different steering rack. Anyway, the 26-year-old British racer thinks it is good that the team listened to the wishes of Lewis Hamilton. But now it is essential, Russell feels, to see if that can translate into lap times. It can sound pretty confusing and contradictory that Lewis said engineers are accountable for the car design, but his teammate suggested something otherwise.
Lewis Not Happy At German Outfit Anymore
The seven-time champion mentioned that the Silver Arrows engineers should admit it, saying that they deserve blame for the car design. As per the Daily Express, Lewis Hamilton mentioned that the engineers should say, “Yeah, we did not listen to you, and as a result, the car is not where it should be.” Hence, they must get to work immediately. Despite a number of design changes over the winter, Mercedes continues to lag behind Red Bull, McLaren, and Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton finished at P9 in China. But he had a P18 finish in the qualifying session. However, he came second in the Sprint race in Shanghai. Clearly, the car design does not allow drivers to perform consistently. For the last two years, the seven-time champion has been frustrated with the Mercedes car.
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