It is no secret that Lewis Hamilton has felt very frustrated since 2021 with Mercedes unable to provide a competitive car. Since 2023, the Briton has openly voiced his frustrations after experiencing disappointing races relative to his lofty standards. Mercedes’ trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin admitted that it was the team’s fault that led Hamilton to feel that way and doubt himself.
On the F1 Nation podcast, Tom Clarkson asked Shovlin to explain whether Hamilton and Mercedes are currently going through a period of self-doubt. In reply, Shovlin stated, “I think the whole team has had a period of that. We launched our third bad car in a row. We’re all wondering ‘why we made that mistake and how have we done that again?’. So, it does have you questioning what you are doing.”
Addressing Hamilton’s frustrations in particular, Shovlin added, “I think the fact we haven’t had a competitive car made it difficult for Lewis. Because he is a driver who is just born to win races and it’s been a tough few years for him, having had so many difficult results”.
Before ending his win hiatus at the 2024 British GP, Hamilton had 82 victories with the Silver Arrows ever since he joined them in 2013. Thus, winning races and fighting at the front had become a habit for the seven-time champion.
However, when the 2022 ground effect regulations came into effect, Mercedes took an odd concept with the zero side pods and that was the undoing of their dominance. As a result of opting for this concept, for the first time in his Mercedes career, Hamilton did not have a car capable of fighting at the front, which naturally frustrated him extensively.
Even with a concept overhaul in 2024, Mercedes struggled massively at the start of the season to challenge for podium places, let alone wins. It wasn’t until the consistent run of upgrades since the Monaco GP that the Brackley outfit started to recover in terms of finding performance.
Since then, Mercedes have registered one pole position and two wins. However, it may have come a bit too late for Hamilton, who is headed to Ferrari next year.
Mercedes heads into unknown territory without Hamilton
Mercedes have been dealing with the issue of finding Hamilton’s replacement since the start of the 2024 season. Moreover, since Hamilton has always been there with the team during their successes, they will head into unknown territory next year.
‼️Sir Lewis Hamilton asked “…why are you leaving to ferrari now that mercedes is kinda going up?”
“i think leaving when the chips are down would be the worst feeling for me, but leaving when the chips are up or on their way up and i’ve been a part of helping progress this car… pic.twitter.com/yIjGc4QBHd
— sim (@sim3744) July 15, 2024
The 39-year-old has stated that he wishes to end his Mercedes stint on a high. He stated that he would not have liked to leave the team in a struggling state and is happy with the current progress. Regardless, Hamilton is set on his decision to part ways and the Brackley outfit would be heading into 2025 without the driver who has led them for 12 years.
It may seem untimely that the seven-time champion is leaving Mercedes for Ferrari, given where both teams stand right now in terms of performance. However, Hamilton feels Ferrari have been in a better position for the past two seasons to provide a championship-winning car when the 2026 regulations come into effect.
