The speculations of Mercedes deliberately trying to ruin Lewis Hamilton’s 2024 season picked up pace after the Canadian Grand Prix. However, former Ferrari boss Peter Windsor is not buying into the rumors. He believes that there are other reasons for the growing distance between Hamilton and Mercedes.
Windsor believes that the trust Hamilton had in Mercedes has been fading away for a while now. And it started after the conclusion of the title decider in Abu Dhabi 2021, where the 39-year-old was wrongly robbed of a record eighth world championship. According to Windsor, Mercedes should have fought harder to get the 2021 title result overturned.
He also highlighted how Mercedes then went ahead and promoted George Russell as Hamilton’s teammate when the 39-year-old was obviously much happier being teammates with Valtteri Bottas, with whom he had a great relationship. When asked if he thinks Mercedes is sabotaging Hamilton’s season during a conversation on the ‘Cameron F1’ podcast, Windsor explained,
“I think he [Toto Wolff] sabotaged Lewis’s efforts when he signed George Russell instead of Valtteri Bottas. And in my opinion, I think Mercedes could have gone a lot further after Abu Dhabi ‘21 to try to get that sorted.”
“I think what happened in Canada… and what’s supposedly happening now is a bit nonsensical for people to criticize because Lewis is doing a good job. I mean you could argue, well, if they’re against Lewis why are they giving you any of the upgrades at all,” Windsor added.
Speculations of Mercedes possibly sabotaging Lewis Hamilton began after Monaco
During the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, Hamilton explicitly stated that he doesn’t think he can outqualify Russell in any of the upcoming races in 2024. For Hamilton fans, this was the first sign that Mercedes were perhaps not treating him equally within the team.
After Monaco Grand Prix Qualifying, Lewis Hamilton says he “anticipated it would be difficult to outqualify George because he has the upgraded component, but it’s great to see we are bringing upgrades”.#F1 #TeamLH #MonacoGPhttps://t.co/m2TRYRcFhv
— Mercedes F1 News – SilverArrows.Net (@SilverArrowsNet) May 25, 2024
And then during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, the Silver Arrows put Hamilton on the hards despite just 10 laps remaining for the race. However, when it came to Russell, they put the mediums on for his car.
Ultimately, Russell went on to finish on the podium. However, Hamilton did set the fastest lap of the race on the same hard tires, suggesting that Mercedes did not make the worst choice when it came to the tires for the seven-time world champion.
Furthermore, with Mercedes clarifying after the race that they did not have an extra set of medium or soft tires to put on the 39-year-old’s car, they had to opt for the hards. These remarks from the team seem to suggest that Mercedes have no intention of sabotaging Hamilton’s last year with the team.
