Lewis Hamilton’s struggles in 2024 continued in Canada as he was out qualified by George Russell with the world champion not enjoying the ideal end to his time with Mercedes.
Jacques Villeneuve stated that Lewis Hamilton has become “stale” while at Mercedes and will be making a move to Ferrari.
The British driver will end his long association with the team and move to the famous Italian team. Hamilton’s final season with the Mercedes team is not going as expected, as he is facing challenges in getting the most out of his car.
He has only been able to achieve a sixth place finish this season, as Hamilton is having difficulty finding compatibility with the Mercedes car despite making continuous adjustments that do not result in the improvements he desires.
Villeneuve highlighted Hamilton’s frustration with another disappointing performance in qualifying in Canada, indicating that he may be reaching his limit.
He said: “That taste for Lewis at Mercedes is now stale. Every driver has a preference with their car. Max will be quick in any car but he will be quicker in a car that suits him. Lewis is in the situation where the car is not doing what he is expecting it to, so he is always second guessing.
There is always more thought process going into his driving which can leave you a thousandth of a second behind and that will make you just that little bit slower. It makes it very difficult to set the car up because you cannot pinpoint what the issue is.”
Whilst Hamilton is struggling team-mate George Russell has been able to find strong performance from the Silver Arrows. He will start on pole position in Canada as his qualifying dominance over his veteran colleague continues.
He mentioned that the competition between George and Lewis began in the first season George arrived, with George initially having the advantage over Lewis. George has demonstrated better driving skills compared to Lewis since his arrival. Lewis, despite his numerous wins, can find it dull and frustrating when he is not winning. A similar situation occurred when Ricciardo joined Vettel.
Hamilton expressed his disappointment with his performance on Saturday at the Canadian Grand Prix, stating that despite feeling comfortable in the car throughout the weekend, he struggled during qualifying. I lose control of the car while driving.
During practice session 3 (P3), I had good speed but during qualifying, the tires did not perform well. There were no changes made to the car.
“At the current moment, we are unable to understand why the outcome wasn’t slightly more favorable for us,” stated team principal Toto Wolff.
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