Lewis Hamilton is not really having the best of times at Mercedes currently. Ever since he was beaten to what would have been his eighth world championship title by Max Verstappen in 2021, Lewis Hamilton has not really been what he used to be. Hamilton failed to win a single race in the 2022 season and he is still winless in 2023.
It is very evident that the seven-time world champion is struggling at Mercedes and Former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan believes that he knows the reason why. “He needs to move on. Just like he did when he was with McLaren. Get out of Mercedes, Lewis,” begged Eddie Jordan in his podcast with David Coulthard. He continued and said, “It’s time you reinvent yourself somewhere else”
Eddie Jordan believes that ever since George Russell came into Mercedes, it must have affected Hamilton. George Russell beat Lewis Hamilton on points in his debut season for Mercedes in 2022. He only claimed the only race win for Mercedes in the whole season. Eddie Jordan said that after all of this, ‘Lewis has to find something else in his mojo’ so that he can bounce back.
George Russell highly praised for his performance in the Mercedes
Eddie Jordan had nothing but praise for George Russell and his performances for the Silver Arrows. He said that he was quite skeptical at first when Russell was still at Williams. He doubted if Mercedes are making the correct decision by promoting George Russell to the team from Williams.
However, Eddie realizes that he was proved wrong by George Russell. “I got it wrong with George,” said Eddie. He continued, “He absolutely blew me away. He did, Full Marks. Hands Up. I got that wrong. I never thought he would be doing what he is doing. I never thought he would be beating Lewis”
George Russell is loving life at Mercedes alongside Lewis Hamilton 💪#Russell #Hamilton #Mercedes #F1 #Formula1 pic.twitter.com/sacQn7etGW
— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) April 17, 2023
Russell adapted to the new Mercedes car much faster than Hamilton could. This is one of the major reasons why he outscored Hamilton in the championship. He finished fourth with 275 points while Hamilton finished sixth with 240 points. Currently in the 2023 season, however, Hamilton is leading the championship battle by 16 points.
What is next for Lewis Hamilton?
Things got quite a bit tense between Hamilton and Mercedes a few months back. The Briton publicly accused his team personnel at an interview in Jeddah, claiming they never listened to him while developing the Mercedes W14. Speaking to BBC, he had said “Last year, I told them the issues that are with the car. Like, I’ve driven so many cars in my life, so I know what a car needs, I know what a car doesn’t need.” Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff himself observed that if they cannot provide Hamilton with a Championship-worthy car in the next couple of years, the 37-year-old might walk out.
However, Lewis Hamilton has commented that he does not plan on leaving Mercedes anytime soon. After the Qualifiers for the Saudi Arabian GP, he confirmed, “I have been with Mercedes since I was 13, and last year we had a difficult year, but I am still here, and whether or not we have a difficult year this year, I will still be here.“
