Hamilton ground-effect theory debunked after Wolff questioned ‘driving style’
Lewis Hamilton driving the Ferrari SF-25
Fred Vasseur has refuted Toto Wolff’s theory that Lewis Hamilton’s driving style may not be suited to F1’s ground-effect aerodynamic cars.
A prolific winner with 103 grand prix victories and seven World titles in his first 15 years on the grid, Hamilton’s form dipped in 2022 when F1 adopted ground-effect aerodynamic cars.
Lewis Hamilton’s dip linked to ‘driving style’ with ground-effect cars?
While part of the problem was Mercedes’ F1 cars, the team struggling with porpoising in the early days, Hamilton’s results have not improved since he moved to Ferrari at the beginning of this season.
Yet to win a grand prix in red, the 40-year-old’s head dropped in the run-in to the summer break as he proclaimed Ferrari “probably need to change driver” as he is “useless, absolutely useless”.
His comments were put to his former team principal Wolff in Hungary with the Austrian declaring Hamilton’s driving style may not be suited to the ground-effect cars.
“Lewis has unfinished business in Formula 1,” Wolff told the media, including PlanetF1.com.
“In the same way that Mercedes underperformed over this latest set of regulations since 2022, we never got happy with the ground-effect car, in the same way it [affects] him. Maybe it is linked to driving style.”
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Vasseur, though, doesn’t believe that’s the case.
Asked by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport if that was Hamilton’s ‘war’, the Frenchman replied: “I don’t think so.
“If we had had bouncing, maybe. But even though we are always on the verge of bouncing, we now have it under control to some extent.”
But that then begs the question, why is Hamilton struggling?
Although the seven-time World Champion is just one position behind Charles Leclerc in the Drivers’ standings, he trails his team-mate by 42 points in a season in which Hamilton has yet join in on Sunday’s champagne celebrations.
In contrast, Leclerc has five podiums and a pole position.
Vasseur believes a big part of Hamilton’s issues this season have been his move from Mercedes to Ferrari, the Briton having spent 18 seasons with English-based teams before the Maranello move.
“Often it is the circumstances,” insisted Vasseur, “and Lewis has been on the unfortunate side more often recently.
“In Budapest, he was ahead of Charles in Q1 and was only a tenth slower in Q2. He was 15 thousandths short of progressing. In the end, one is first and the other twelfth.
“Of course, that looks stupid. But it didn’t take much for us to finish eleventh and twelfth with our two drivers.
“Looking back, I have to admit that we, by which I mean Lewis and I, underestimated the move to a different environment.
“He was with the same team for 18 years before, if I may call McLaren and Mercedes a home. It was an English team, and the engine environment always remained the same.
“It’s a bigger difference between Ferrari and Mercedes than between Mercedes and McLaren. When Lewis arrived at Ferrari, we naively thought that he would have everything under control. He is not like Carlos Sainz, who changes teams every few years and would be familiar with this process.
“It took Lewis four to five races to get the situation under control. Since the Canadian GP, he has actually been on course.”
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