Lewis Hamilton’s dominant streak of championships with Mercedes may seem quite recent, but it has been four long years since the British driver has won the drivers’ title. It had been very frustrating for him to not secure his record-breaking eighth world title owing to Mercedes’ shortcomings.
However, amid their slump since 2022, many believe Hamilton may have also lost the edge to be super-competitive. Former F1 driver Karun Chandhok, however, doesn’t believe so but highlighted that the 40-year-old’s qualifying prowess has taken a dip in the past two years.
With Hamilton moving to Ferrari, the Sky Sports F1 pundit has echoed the sentiments of many other experts like Nico Rosberg about how the seven-time world champion could struggle against Charles Leclerc, at least on a single-lap pace. “Is Lewis as fast in qualifying as he used to be? No. Is he going to be as fast as Charles Leclerc in qualifying? Probably not,” Chandhok said in a podcast conversation with Evo India.
“As soon as you get to qualifying, either everyone turns up, and we turn down, or something happens, and I basically lose speed… the lap feels very similar, it’s just slower, particularly on my side. it’s been happening since the beginning of the season.” ♀️#MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/rCd003STSy
— Hamilton Insights (@LH44_insights) May 25, 2024
Still, the Indian former driver is confident that if Ferrari can provide him with a competitive car for the races, Hamilton can finally end the quest for his record-breaking eighth championship. “Is Lewis still capable of winning an 8th world championship? If the car is capable, yes,” Chandhok added.
Certainly, the qualifying struggles will be something Hamilton will want to overcome as he starts afresh at Ferrari. Even if he doesn’t do so, the Briton would look to maximize his output and focus on the bigger picture in the races.
Chandhok gave the example of the 2024 British Grand Prix which saw Hamilton win a race after almost a thousand days. That performance by the #44 driver in Silverstone convinced Chandhok that Hamilton still has the ingredients to deliver elite performance if he has a good enough car underneath.
How Hamilton’s Silverstone win was a summary of his current situation
During the qualifying for the British GP last year, Hamilton failed to secure pole position with his teammate George Russell pipping him by over a tenth of a second. While it was a front-row lock-out for Mercedes, it seemed like Russell could be the one to win the race for the Brackley outfit.
However, the #63 driver had to retire due to an issue with his car, which gave Hamilton a clean shot at victory. While Hamilton had to contend with both McLarens and Max Verstappen, Mercedes had the pace in its W15 that weekend to beat all of them. Hamilton did what he does best to bring home a famous win at home after a grueling 945-day drought.
It basically showed that even though his teammate could beat him in qualifying, Hamilton’s ability to recover in the race has not diminished. The seven-time world champion produced similar performances in Belgium, Las Vegas, and Abu Dhabi later in the season to claim multiple podiums [with the podium in Belgium turning out to be his second win after Russell’s DSQ].
At Ferrari, Hamilton will look to emulate such performances with a consistently quick car. Even if Leclerc could get the better of him in qualifying, the Briton has the ability to outclass him on Sundays.
