Toto Wolff Explains Why Lewis Hamilton Struggled Against George Russell at Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton arguably had his worst stint against a teammate in the past three seasons at Mercedes. Despite beating George Russell on cumulative points across the three years, Hamilton struggled immensely during qualifying against the 26-year-old. On top of that, Russell was able to beat the seven-time world champion on points in both 2022 and 2024.

While Hamilton wasn’t much bothered about that, the deficit in the single-lap pace was something he couldn’t understand. Steadily, he started to doubt his caliber and wondered whether his form may have started to decline.

Two race wins in the middle part of the 2024 season may have brought back some confidence for Hamilton, but it went off track again for him. While the season has concluded with Hamilton moving on to his new team Ferrari, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has given his perspective on what annoyed the seven-time world champion in the past three seasons.

“This generation of car doesn’t suit Lewis. He brakes late and drives the car aggressively into the corners. The car and the tires sometimes don’t forgive that. It’s more noticeable in qualifying than in the race,” Wolff said in an interview with Auto Motor und Sport.

He denied the notion that Hamilton had already shifted his mind towards Ferrari in his final year with Mercedes. “Lewis is too professional for that,” Wolff added.

Hamilton may look to have a fresh start at Ferrari, but he will still have to bear with the ground-effect car concept for one more season. In such a scenario, there is a chance Charles Leclerc could also beat him in 2025 just like Russell did.

Leclerc is also a rapid qualifier and had a stellar season in 2024 with three race wins and multiple podiums. There is a lot of discussion about how Hamilton can tackle Leclerc’s threat and whether he can break free from his struggles with the ground-effect cars for his maiden year at Ferrari.

The issue drivers have faced with the ground effect concept

Hamilton hasn’t been able to attack the corners as he used to do in the older cars before the ground effect regulations came into effect. That is the case due to the lower ride height of these new-generation cars. In fact, like Hamilton, another driver who struggled to adapt to the ground-effect cars was Daniel Ricciardo.

Ricciardo struggled to adapt to the McLaren car’s braking and cornering style in 2021, and the ground effect regulations worsened his situation. Driver coach Martin Villari revealed in an exclusive interview with The SportsRush that the Aussie wasn’t able to work out the changes to the car concept and modify his driving style accordingly.

Villari also stated that it evolved from a technical problem to a confidence problem for Ricciardo. The eight-time race winner’s form continuously dipped with his results worsening as the seasons passed. While Ricciardo has lost his seat in F1, Hamilton is in a much better place right now to sort out his troubles.

The Briton would want to find a way out of this loop of poor qualifying outings. Time will tell whether a fresh start at Ferrari can help him do so. However, the Italian team will be a bit worried if Hamilton cannot rediscover his mojo.

Ferrari’s Hamilton move could backfire

There is immense expectation from the Hamilton-Ferrari partnership as many feel that this combination will bring back championship glory to Maranello. Even Hamilton wants to do the same.

However, for that, he needs to return to his old winning ways. Ferrari have trusted the British driver and given him a multi-year deal with a staggering annual salary of around $80 to $100 million.

They even broke up a potent teammate lineup of Leclerc and Carlos Sainz by letting the Spaniard go to make way for Hamilton. Since Hamilton’s form has suffered massively in the past two seasons, he may find it incredibly difficult to win a dream eighth title.