Hamilton hints Mercedes favouritism behind F1 difficulties

Lewis Hamilton has hinted that favouritism is the reason for a qualifying deficit to his Mercedes team-mate George Russell.

Russell has beaten Hamilton in nearly every single qualifying session in 2024, with their current head-to-head at 7-1.

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After an impressive performance in free practice, Hamilton looked likely to beat his team-mate this time out in Monaco.

However, Russell secured a better time, and will start the grand prix in fifth with Hamilton behind in P7.

Why is Hamilton struggling in qualifying?

Hamilton will leave Mercedes at the end of the season to join rival team Ferrari, who claimed pole position with Charles Leclerc in Monaco.

The seven-time world champion has recently been shut out of important meetings concerning Mercedes' development, particularly for their 2026 car when the next regulations are enforced.

After qualifying in Monaco, Hamilton cryptically hinted that favouritism at Mercedes may also be impacting his performance this season.

“Yesterday was really strong, as soon as we started qualifying, it’s like, I don’t know if it’s a turn down or something but performance comes away from my car for some reason, so it’s frustrating that we’re seventh,” Hamilton said to the media, including GPFans.

“I’ve been driving the same through yesterday and today and the car was performing pretty well, the small difference between the two cars is that George has the upgraded front wing so that created a performance difference, particularly in the high speed but for some reason as we got to qualifying, I had no more.

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“I expect it now, every time I come into qualifying, I already know I’m gonna lose a couple of tenths.”

“I don’t anticipate being ahead of George in qualifying this year,” he added.

When asked by Sky why he thinks this will be the case all year, Hamilton shrugged and said ‘we’ll see’.

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