Lewis Hamilton has had a woeful start to his 2024 campaign, which will also be his final season with Mercedes. Hamilton feels this is his worst start to an F1 season ever, and even drew parallels to the 2009 campaign, which was arguably his lowest phase during his McLaren stint.
Hamilton spent six seasons at McLaren, the team with whom he started his F1 career. He won the 2008 championship with the outfit, but just a year later, they had a horrible dip in form. The start of the year was horrendous after a disqualification in the first round killed all momentum for the then-reigning world champion. He finished 9th, 12th, 13th, 16th, and 18th in successive rounds heading into the mid-season break, and the Stevenage-born driver felt completely helpless.
As reported by multiple sources back then, Hamilton said he didn’t even feel like racing. Hence, Hamilton admitting that his start to 2024 is even worse than 2009 shows just how woeful the situation is at Mercedes.
Hamilton has earned 8 points in the opening three races so far, with a DNF in Melbourne. His comments on this horrendous start came right after the Australian GP, and Sky Sports quoted him saying, “It’s the worst start to a season I’ve ever had. It’s worse than 2009.”
Hamilton went on to say that he approached the campaign with a lot of excitement because the team worked hard over the winter break. Nonetheless, his last season with Mercedes is not going according to plan, and Hamilton does not see things getting better anytime soon.
Lewis Hamilton gearing up for a long and hard season
Hamilton started the Australian GP from P11 on the grid but trusted enough in himself and the car to gain a few places and finish well within the points. Unfortunately, his power unit gave out in lap 17, when the Stevenage-born driver complained of an engine failure on the radio.
Hamilton’s bad weekend turned into a nightmare, and he walked away from his car feeling hopeless. When asked by Brazilian TV (after the race), what he thinks will improve in the coming rounds, Hamilton said, “Nothing. This will be a hard season.”
If Hamilton has given up on the remaining races for Mercedes in 2024, he will be excited about what’s to come next season. He will join Ferrari, completing a dream move, and will drive for a team that is seemingly on the ascendancy. While he and George Russell brought home 0 points for Mercedes in Melbourne, Ferrari completed a memorable 1-2 finish.
