“Sh*t happens”, is what Lewis Hamilton said when asked about his disappointing elimination from Q1 in China. Hamilton went from the high of securing second in the Sprint race on Saturday to the low of finishing P9 on Sunday. And that has been the story of Hamilton’s 2024 season so far.

This has led to the worst-ever start to Lewis Hamilton’s season in the 18 years he has been in Formula 1. And Italian F1 pundit, Leo Turrini thinks that the 7-time champion deserves more respect for keeping up with a sluggish car which is often on a knife’s edge. Mercedes made a big mistake when they chose to stick with the zero pod concept based on George Russell‘s win in Brazil in 2022, despite multiple warnings by Hamilton to change the design philosophy.

But even with all their efforts, the Brackley squad couldn’t make the zero pod concept work and had to move away from it this season. However, it meant that Mercedes had already fallen two years behind in the development race for the current generation of cars. The W15, which was supposed to solve Mercedes’ problems, is quick, but it has an extremely narrow performance window.

Reportedly, as soon as the conditions change even a little bit, the car becomes undrivable. This situation is even worse for Lewis Hamilton because he is taking up the bulk of the responsibility for experimenting with the car’s setup in the hopes of finding some performance. And it was these experiments that ruined his weekend in China, where he was only able to recover to ninth position after starting from P18 on soft tires.

In his recent analysis of the Chinese Grand Prix on QN Motori, Turrini wrote, “Hamilton should be respected more. He is driving a lawnmower painted silver. In the Sprint he finished second, in the race he recovered. You can think whatever you want about the character, but this hatred towards a great champion who chose Ferrari (not a winner), well, I find it incomprehensible.” [Translated by Google]

Despite the struggles, Mercedes is committed to getting back on top as they plan to introduce upgrades in the next race in Miami.

Toto Wolff talks about the potential of the new upgrade to W15

Speaking to the media after the Chinese GP, Toto Wolff acknowledged that the team is currently not where it wants to be. He even addressed the setup changes on Hamilton’s car and admitted that the British driver went too extreme with the direction of the setup. However, he also mentioned that they’ve got some improvements in the pipeline for the race in Miami, which they’re hoping will give them a competitive edge.

“We have got to dig deep,“ said Wolff. “We have got something coming for Miami that looks like a good step, let’s see where that brings us out.” When asked about the advantage in lap time the upgrade will deliver, Wolff added, “Let’s see. Hopefully a bit. Until then, we will be back at the factory next week and try and position the car better for Miami and have a better weekend.”

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According to many, it’s highly unlikely that Mercedes will be able to catch the Ferraris. But can they keep up with the development race this season to at least finish ahead of McLaren? Share your thoughts in the comments down below.