The 2022 F1 season has been difficult for Lewis Hamilton. He along with Mercedes dominated the sport for the last eight years, but the regulation changes ahead of this campaign hit them hard. Red Bull and Ferrari were much faster than them for the majority of the season, and they were forced to be third-best out on track.
As the season progressed, Mercedes kept getting better in terms of pace. Despite their problems, both Hamilton and George Russell insisted that the team was on the right track and their hard work finally paid off at last week’s Sao Paolo GP. The Silver Arrows dominated the race and secured their first win of the season. Russell brought home the win with Hamilton finishing behind him in P2.
George Russell WINS the #BrazilGP! 🇧🇷
That’s his first career win and it’s Mercedes’ first win of the season! #F1 #Motorsport #LiquiMoly #Ad pic.twitter.com/Oan3q0HtOZ
— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) November 13, 2022
Mercedes’ win at Interlagos means that they won’t go winless in 2022. For Hamilton, however, it seems like 2022 will be the first year he spends in F1 without a win. Unless the Brit wins the Abu Dhabi GP on Sunday, his streak of winning a race in every single year of his career will come to an end.
Lewis Hamilton looking forward to the season to end
Mercedes have made some major strides as the season progressed, and most teams are confident of them returning to winning ways consistently in 2023. Hamilton himself is looking forward to fighting for race wins and Titles on a regular basis again. This is why the 37-year-old is desperate for the 2023 season to start.
#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪: Lewis Hamilton says he feels “relief that the season’s gonna be over soon. Just looking forward to seeing the finish line. I’m actually doing a test on Tuesday which I don’t know why I admitted to doing that but anyway.”
— deni (@fiagirly) November 20, 2022
Ahead of the Abu Dhabi GP, Hamilton admitted that he is relieved about this campaign ending. “Just looking forward to seeing the finish line,” he said during the Drivers’ parade. I’m actually doing a test on Tuesday which I don’t know why I admitted to doing that but anyway.”
Hamilton not pleased with Mercedes’ pace during Abu Dhabi qualifying
The last qualifying session of 2022 did not go according to plan for Hamilton. The Mercedes car lacked in pace once again as they finished behind both Red Bulls and Ferraris. Hamilton salvaged a P5 starting position for Sunday’s race with Russell set to begin right behind him.
Hamilton wants the 2022 season to end as soon as possible but the Stevenage-born driver will be hoping for this underwhelming campaign to end on a strong note.