Both Lewis Hamilton and Esteban Ocon have faced their fair share of struggles this season. However, the timing of their troubles—increasing just months before their departures—and the fact that their teammates performed better may not be a coincidence.
Both Hamilton and Ocon began to struggle more after news broke that they wouldn’t be driving for Mercedes and Alpine, respectively, from 2025 onwards. In Hamilton’s case, it was his decision to jump ship to Ferrari. For Ocon, however, the circumstances were different.
It’s been a crazy few days which have been filled with a whole range of emotions.
But as you all now know, after an incredible 11 years at Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, the time has come for me to start a new chapter in my life and I will be joining Scuderia Ferrari in 2025.
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) February 3, 2024
It was Alpine who had reportedly decided to cut ties with the Frenchman, owing to rumors of a tense relationship with teammate Pierre Gasly. While nothing was out in the open, of course, incidents like what happened in Monaco 2024, where they nearly took each other out, must have contributed to their decision to not go ahead with Ocon.
It is possible that Alpine also stopped involving Ocon in their meetings, just like Mercedes may have done with Hamilton. Nothing personal, but they wouldn’t want future rivals (Ferrari and Haas) to know about secrets their existing drivers could carry forward.
Speaking of how Mercedes might have treated Hamilton this year, former F1 driver Martin Brundle had said, “You’ve got this transition point where Lewis will stop being invited to meetings. He won’t understand what’s going on with the development of the car and in the simulator“.
While both Hamilton and Ocon have tasted success in some form, 2024 has been a difficult year for them overall.
Hamilton and Ocon’s difficult season
Back in May, Hamilton, who has won twice in 2024, addressed his qualifying struggles by shockingly claiming that he didn’t expect to out-qualify Russell at any point this season. For someone who has 104 pole positions in F1, it was surprising for him to say, “I don’t anticipate being ahead of George in qualifying, particularly this year. But we’ve just got to keep pushing, and the races are strong“.
It was then that gossip of Mercedes deliberately sabotaging Hamilton in favor of Russell came up. While several experts rubbished the theories, it is fair to say that the smoke didn’t come without the fire.
The results this season seem to support Hamilton’s controversial claim. Russell leads the seven-time World Champion 18-5 in Grand Prix qualifying this year. Even if the speculations about Mercedes potentially sabotaging Hamilton are unfounded, his recent dip in confidence is certainly a cause for concern.
Similarly, Ocon has struggled to match Gasly. Since his departure was announced, Gasly has scored 25 points for the team, while Ocon has managed only 22 points—18 of which came from his surprising second-place finish in the rain-affected Sao Paulo GP last month.
Moreover, Ocon has struggled throughout the ongoing Qatar GP weekend, finishing P14 in Qualifying, five places behind Gasly. Additionally, the team revealed ahead of the race that Gasly was given the latest upgrades, not the outgoing driver, raising further concerns about unfair treatment.
