“He Never Had to Push” – Former F1 Driver Predicts a Much Harder Season for Lewis Hamilton Compared to Russell

The 2022 calendar is already moving to the third race of the season. But Mercedes are still not able to get to the front and fight for the championship. Especially, it’s hard for Lewis Hamilton who even got knocked out in Q1 during qualifying in Saudi Arabia.

The Silver Arrows have been dominating Formula One for the past few years. But this season many fans are speculating it might be the end for the great Mercedes because of their poor performance. Mercedes are struggling with the 2022 challenger since the pre-season testing and their woes are still following them. Further, it seems that Hamilton is struggling more with the challenging car compared to his new teammate George Russell who has been behind the wheels of a difficult car during his Williams days.

The 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve even believes that the German Team can’t fight for the championship at the moment. The former F1 driver said, “We can say that competing for the prizes is no longer an option for Mercedes. George Russell can still handle the car to some degree. Maybe that’s because of his years at Williams where he also had to drive a difficult car.”

“But Lewis Hamilton is not coping at all. He’s always had a perfect car, he never had to push because they were so much faster. In the race yesterday he did alright, but on Saturday he was nowhere to be seen.”

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Villeneuve further continued, “The car does not seem to suit his driving style at the moment. You can make an engine stronger, but you can’t get extra horsepower that easily, and if the chassis won’t cooperate you have a problem.”

Can Lewis Hamilton still fight for the championship in 2022?

The seven-time world champion couldn’t win a race so far. Meanwhile, rival Max Verstappen won the Saudi Arabian GP last week. Although the Brit did get a podium in the season-opener in Bahrain thanks to both Red Bull cars retiring.

The Mercedes duo are not able to tame their 2022 challenger. They both are experiencing a lot of bouncing in the car. Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin did mention that the W13 would bring some major upgrades in the next few races. But team principal Toto Wolff rejected those statements by Shovlin and instead claimed that the German constructors will take more time to get back to the front.

The Saudi Arabian GP was a shocker for every F1 fan. As Lewis Hamilton got knocked out of the Q1 and was supposed to start the race at P16. Eventually, the Brit finished P10 by bagging one point. Meanwhile, Russell qualified P6 and on the race day finished P5.

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It might be too soon to conclude that this season will be the end for Lewis Hamilton and his 8th world title dreams. There are still 21 races left for them to return to the front of the grid. Let’s see what the Brit can do in the Australian GP next week.