1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill fears that Lewis Hamilton may have lost what it takes to compete with the younger generation. In a recent conversation, the 62-year-old stated how Hamilton may have lost some speed because of his growing age.
Hill defended his argument by comparing the 38-year-old’s performances to that of Mercedes teammate George Russell. Russell has been extremely impressive since his move to Mercedes last year as he beat Hamilton in the world championship points table in his very first season as teammates.
Russell finished fourth in the championship with 275 points, 35 points ahead of seven-time world champion Hamilton. The 25-year-old achieved something that former Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas was never able to do in five years as Hamilton’s teammate between 2017-21.
Hill fears Lewis Hamilton has lost some speed because of his age
While speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Damon Hill said, “Drivers in their late 30s can no longer do those absolutely absurd kind of transcendental laps that they used to be able to do when they were in their 20s.” Hill believes that it’s this reason why someone like Russell has been able to beat Lewis Hamilton so quickly in his career.
The 62-year-old then went on to state that he fears Hamilton may feel ‘depressed’ if he is unable to beat Russell. “When the older, experienced driver is faced by the speed of a young arrival, they can get depressed about it or devote their energy to making sure the outcome in the race is the thing that matters,” explained Hill.
Damon Hill believes George Russell still has to prove himself
Even though Russell kickstarted his Mercedes career with an outstanding fourth-place finish in the championship last year, Damon Hill still believes that the 25-year-old has to prove himself. Hill said that while Russell has all the talent, he needs to show he can deliver consistently and be a ‘valuable asset’ to the Silver Arrows.
After an impressive 2022 season, the young Brit’s 2023 campaign has begun in a disappointing fashion. Russell has so far scored 18 points and finds himself seventh in the championship, 20 points behind teammate Hamilton.
It is pertinent to note that Russell has a huge deficit to Hamilton after just three races for not much fault of his own. The 25-year-old kickstarted the 2023 season with a seventh-place finish in Bahrain followed by a brilliant fourth-place finish in Saudi Arabia, where he beat Hamilton.
However, Russell’s decent start to the campaign completely changed in the last race in Australia. After leading the race at one point, the 25-year-old was forced to retire because of an engine issue with his Mercedes. The young Briton will now hope that all goes well for him and he can put up a good show in the next race in Baku.
