Daniel Ricciardo decline theory shifts to Lewis Hamilton after W15 struggles
Lewis Hamilton: Suffering the same issue as Daniel Ricciardo?
Condemning his W15 as a “plank of wood” in Brazil, Marc Priestley fears Lewis Hamilton is in a “similar” situation to Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez in that today’s ground-effect aerodynamic F1 cars don’t suit his driving style.
Scoring a single point at the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend, a race that he has won three times, Hamilton didn’t hold back in his criticism of his Mercedes F1 car.
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11th in the Sprint qualifying and the Sprint, Hamilton spoke of his car being similar to “Baku 2022” as he suffered with severe porpoising.
It didn’t get any better in qualifying and the Grand Prix as he was eliminated in Q1 where he was 16th fastest, and decried the “damn car” before telling the media it was the “worst” car he’d ever driven, before racing his way to P10 in the 71-lap Grand Prix.
But even then he had nothing nice to say about his F1 car.
“That was a disaster weekend, guys,” he radioed to Mercedes after taking the chequered flag in 10th place. “That’s the worst the car’s ever been.”
He doubled down on that in his post-race interviews, saying: “It’s like a plank of wood. There’s no suspension. It’s just bouncing on the tyres, everywhere. Can’t get on the power anywhere.
“The worst ride definitely that we’ve ever had, particularly through corners. Just so stiff.”
On a day when “at least one car was behaving” as Russell raced for a podium finish before crossing the line in fourth place, Hamilton’s frustrations were notable.
The Brazilian Grand Prix was just the latest stumble from Hamilton in a season in which he has already lost the qualifying head-to-head battle with Russell, while now he also trails his team-mate in the Drivers’ Championship.
Priestley, a former McLaren mechanic, sees similarities between Hamilton’s troubles as those of former VCARB driver Daniel Ricciardo. He puts Sergio Perez, who could yet lose his Red Bull seat in the midst of his woes, in the same category of drivers whose driving style isn’t suited to today’s ground-effect aerodynamic cars.
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Priestley said on his YouTube channel: “I mean Lewis Hamilton, what on earth happened to Lewis Hamilton?
“Somebody asked me earlier, why has Lewis Hamilton gone off the boil and I honestly think this is a similar type of situation to the likes of Daniel Ricciardo in recent times, Checo Perez.
“I don’t think Daniel Ricciardo, Checo Perez or Lewis Hamilton have suddenly become bad drivers.
“I think the modern generation of cars are so specific, they’re so nuanced in the way that you get the performance out of them and in the case of those three drivers, it’s not suiting the driving style that they’re so used to, that’s ingrained within them that they have built their careers around.
“These cars require something very specific, both from a technical point of view when it comes to setting them up really low and stiff, but also in the way that you drive them and it’s not suiting those guys.
“They’re struggling to get the tyre temperature into the tyres and as soon as you don’t get that, as soon as you fall out of that window, the performance disappears.
“And when the performance disappears, you struggle to get tyre temperature back in and it’s this vicious cycle that you can’t get out of very easily.
“That’s what I think is happening to Lewis.”
But there is a small light on the horizon with Hamilton off to Ferrari next season and their car could suit him, says Priestley.
“If you’re a Lewis Hamilton fan,”he continued, “take heart from that in when he joins Ferrari it could well be that the Ferrari is a car that’s much more suited to his driving style and things could completely change.
“It may not, but let’s see.”
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