Lewis Hamilton stated that his title chances for 2022 are over, following a disastrous Emilia-Romagna GP where he finished only 13th. It’s his first time this season to finish outside of points, and his frustrations and disappointment were palpable throughout the weekend.
During the broadcast, his former teammate and bitter rival Nico Rosberg hinted that maybe it’s not all Mercedes’ fault for his bad performance. He stated: ‘George Russell is driving his race comfortably in p4 in the same machine’. in the meantime, the seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton was struggling for over 40 laps to get past Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly for only p12 which he ultimately didn’t do.
Lewis Hamilton’s title hopes gone?
To make matters even worse, last year’s champion and his arch-nemesis Max Verstappen lapped Lewis Hamilton on lap 40.
Fueling the fire, Red Bull’s team advisor and resident boogeyman Helmut Marko stated: “I mean, he was lapped by us. So, maybe he should have stopped last year” taking a jab at Hamilton’s age and possible retirement from the sport.
Toto Wolff taking responsibility once again
Mercedes AMG team principal Toto Wolff spoke to Lewis on the team radio saying that he is ‘sorry’ for an ‘undrivable’ car this time around.
He once again defended his ace from the media. Taking the blame for Hamilton’s bad result and attributed it to the bad car setup and balance while his teammate secured 4th place in the same car.
Wolff reiterated that they still haven’t managed to solve the porpoising issues. They plague almost all of the teams even the title favorites and current leaders Ferrari.
He also stated for SkySports: “We are not good enough for a world champion, not worthy for a world champion. We just need to fix the car.”
He then added: “Lewis deserves better from us. We are a team. We all need to do the utmost to provide him with the best machine possible.” The future for Lewis Hamilton
Seemingly everyone was interested in the future of Lewis this weekend after the nightmarish GP and his poor performance. The paddock is asking if he should and even should have retired at the end of last season.
His team boss Toto backed him by saying: “There is none out of the great ones that come to my mind that didn’t have a certain moment in their career where things didn’t run properly, and that is the case now with him since a long time.”
His former Mercedes teammate and 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg had an interesting take from his unique perspective. He stated: “I think he’ll manage because he is a fighter and always wants to beat his teammate. That’s important to him.”
As it currently stands Lews Hamilton is p7 with 28 points after four races. The leader is Charles Leclerc 58 points ahead of him.
Will Mercedes turn the tides in their favor? Can they fix the car? Will they get rid of all the ‘gremlins’ under the hood of their W13 contender in time to be able to fight for the title in time?
With F1’s insane car development speed and over 2000 people working at the Mercedes factory, this is not a far cry. We might just witness a three-way title fight the likes of which we haven’t seen in decades.
