Ever since the start of the 2024 season, Lewis Hamilton has looked out of touch. What is further alarming is how easily and how often his teammate George Russell has outperformed him. That makes many wonder if the seven-time champion is finally on a decline. Or is it just a case of him waiting to get to his next destination, which is Ferrari?
Incidentally, former Red Bull driver David Coulthard had the same question on his mind. He also wondered if Hamilton is in the same phase of his career that Michael Schumacher had during his final few years with Ferrari when he wasn’t the same Schumacher the world once knew.
The Briton put that question up to former F1 team owner and manager Eddie Jordan. Speaking on the Formula For Success podcast, Jordan was of the opinion that Hamilton continues to function with the same mentality as he did during his championship-winning years.
Jordan said, “I don’t think you could ever say that Lewis would just take off the races. He wouldn’t be going through. He’s doing in his mindset as what he did in winning championships before. “
Jordan, however, also believes that Hamilton will “up his game” once he arrives at Ferrari in 2025. He delivered a warning to the 39-year-old on this approach, though.
Jordan urged Hamilton to pull up his socks while still at Mercedes as he needs to prove to the Ferrari management that they did not commit a mistake by picking him over Carlos Sainz. He also warned Hamilton against an inherent trend at Ferrari which can catch him by surprise.
That is the inconsistency in performance. The Maranello outfit manages to churn out some race-winning performances on some occasions. On other occasions, their struggles make them look like amateurs. This could be hard for Hamilton to deal with.
Jordan and Coulthard also discussed the Hamilton sabotage email saga
A major uproar ensued as an anonymous email supposedly from a Mercedes employee reached several F1 journalists and high-ranking F1 officials. The email claimed there was an intentional sabotage at play at Mercedes against Hamilton.
It also claimed that team boss Toto Wolff held a vindictive feeling against Hamilton ever since the British driver signed the deal with Ferrari. Jordan, however, rubbished the contents of the email with a simple reasoning.
He highlighted how important it is for a team to score points through both drivers. Moreover, if there was any proof of the said ‘sabotage’, the ‘disgruntled’ employee would have made their identity public instead of going anonymous.
