Eddie Jordan raises suspicions over Lewis Hamilton’s mindset after first F1 2024 races

Former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan believes Lewis Hamilton is already “dejected” about the form of Mercedes in his final year with the Brackley-based team.

Hamilton will depart Mercedes at the conclusion of the 2024 F1 season, having opted to swap Brackley for Maranello next year, as the seven-time World Champion has opted for a new challenge by joining Ferrari in 2025.

Eddie Jordan: Lewis Hamilton is dejected with Mercedes

Mercedes have scored points with both cars in both races so far in 2024, with George Russell leading the charge as he’s claimed fifth and sixth places in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, respectively.

Hamilton has finished in seventh and ninth in the same two races, and hasn’t yet looked to have the measure of Russell. Last year, the season started in a similar fashion, with Hamilton coming alive through the year as Russell’s year became what he described himself as “scrappy”.

Speaking on the Formula for Success podcast, former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan said he suspects Hamilton’s head has dropped at this early stage of his final year with Mercedes, having realised the new W15 – while an improvement to drive – is no closer to competing for race wins than last year’s difficult W14.

“Lewis, I think, is a bit dejected already with the state of Mercedes,” Jordan told host David Coulthard on the weekly podcast, speaking from his home in South Africa.

“Mercedes and Toto [Wolff], it’s the same as last year, isn’t it? It’s started poorly.

“It’s very hard to catch up. When you’ve got somebody like Max [Verstappen] who has 51 points on the board, or something like that, already… I mean, it’s just ridiculous. How is Mercedes going to compete?

“The problem for all the other competitors is that other than Ferrari, I cannot see anyone making a serious challenge to this Red Bull team.”

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Evaluating drivers who need a strong result in order to get their seasons kick-started, Jordan pointed to the likes of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Lando Norris, before singling out Hamilton’s form.

“Lewis… God, he needs a result really badly,” the Irishman said.

“The reason why is because George is outshining him, just like what happened this time last year.

“Sure, Lewis got himself together halfway through and then went on to have a very strong second half of the season.

“But the championship is not two halves. It’s a continuous race, there’s 24 races and, in the races, ninth at the weekend. It’s not good enough, he needs a big result. That’s what I think.”

Lewis Hamilton: There’s a lot of love here

Speaking ahead of the Saudi Arabian GP weekend, Hamilton himself spoke about what he hopes to achieve this year with Mercedes in order to make it a good year to sign off with if victories or championships aren’t possible.

“I think it’s really just about how we go about our processes. It’s how we work together as a team,” he said.

“We didn’t win the championship last year, but coming second felt like a real triumph for us – from a car that we were really struggling with to then fighting and, also as a driver, fighting in the top three for the Drivers’ Championship.

“Obviously, we were a long way from first but there were lots of wins last year. I think it’s really just giving it our all and knowing that we didn’t leave any stone unturned.

“Just embracing and enjoying the moments, every moment that I get with the team in the garage or through qualifying, just being present.

“I think it’s easy in life not to be present in the sense of being distracted by all these other things. So I’m really enjoying engaging and working with this group, nothing feels like it’s changed. There’s a lot of love here.”

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