Things seem to keep going from bad to worse for Lewis Hamilton. Ever since that fateful night in Abu Dhabi in 2021, we’ve not seen Lewis Hamilton fighting for wins and championships again. But it isn’t for a lack of trying. While the 7x champion is as motivated as ever to get back to the very top of Formula 1, his team, Mercedes have a lot of catching up to do. But while Mercedes is quite some way off a lot of teams, the obvious target is set on the dominant Red Bull.

During today’s Qualifying session for Sunday’s race at the Baku Street Circuit, the Silver Arrows were once again given a grim reality of how much work still needs to be done on the W14. While last year they caught up a lot to the front-running pack, it would appear that all the good work was somehow washed away during the winter. Lewis Hamilton’s qualifying experience today becomes a testament to that.

Lewis Hamilton delivers crushing Mercedes testimony

The 38-year-old qualified 5th overall for the race on Sunday. While the result on paper doesn’t look particularly bad, the deficit to the Bulls was almost a second. To add insult to injury, while the W14 can’t match the RB19 on pace, it also doesn’t have the most welcoming of handling characteristics either.

Hamilton was quoted post-qualifying, as saying, “I didn’t really know what to expect this weekend. I knew the Red Bulls would be particularly quick. I didn’t realize we’d have such a huge deficit on the straight. But, it’s a good indicator, We’re slower on the straights and then slower in the middle sector so we’ve got a lot of work to do to rectify that in the car. It’s not the easiest to drive.”

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This should come as even more alarming as the FIA shortened the DRS zone for the main straight as per Motorsport.com. This would’ve reduced the advantage the Bulls would’ve had. But Mercedes was still very slow compared to Red Bull.

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Mercedes’ struggles are apparent for everyone to see. However, things get worse as the problems with the W14 aren’t just about how slow it is compared to the others on the grid.

Hamilton handicapped by W14 design

Drivers are built to extract the maximum amount of performance from their given machinery. That being said, when the car itself is in prejudice to you, there’s not much even a driver of Hamilton’s caliber can do to tame it.

One of Hamilton’s biggest gripes with the car is its design. He was quoted by Sports Illustrated as revealing, “I don’t know if people know, but we sit closer to the front wheels than all the other drivers. Our cockpit is too close to the front. When you’re driving, you feel like you’re sitting on the front wheels, which is one of the worst feelings to feel when you’re driving a car.”

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Can Lewis Hamilton dig deeper than ever before and salvage the remaining years he has in F1?