Hamilton’s 2024 season stands in stark contrast to his previous years in the sport, with his deficit to team-mate George Russell forcing critics to blame the champion himself rather than Mercedes for his struggles.
Following the Brazilian GP, the likes of Jeremy Clarkson and Bernie Ecclestone have all brutally commented on the decline of the legendary driver.
However, Ferrari would be inclined to disagree after signing the champion for 2025 and beyond, which leads to one fundamental reason for Hamilton’s poor performances.
It is Mercedes’ performance that is the cause of Hamilton’s current F1 struggles, not the driver himself.
Lewis Hamilton has suffered a series of poor results since the US GP
The latter of these races attracted the most criticism from Hamilton, who labelled Brazil as a ‘disaster of a weekend’ and the ‘worst the car has ever been’.
Despite Mercedes' issues, Russell has managed to perform on occasions Hamilton has not, fuelling the narrative that the champion is past his best.
Whilst Russell should be commended for beating his seven-time championship-winning team-mate, particularly in qualifying, it is also important to acknowledge the circumstances in which he has achieved this.
The Brit joined Mercedes in 2022, following the regulation changes that hindered the performance of the once-dominant team.
Therefore, Russell is only used to a sub-par Mercedes, and any car would have been an improvement from a Williams that struggled to score a single point during his tenure with the team.
Meanwhile, Hamilton competes in his third decade of F1, in a Mercedes that is a shadow of the machine that earned him six world titles.
Russell is also Mercedes’ future and will be more committed to extracting the maximum from his car, whereas Hamilton’s mind is undoubtedly elsewhere.
In a discussion regarding Hamilton’s performance in 2024, it would be remiss not to assess the impact of him joining Ferrari.
If they continue on their current trajectory, Ferrari will be one of the top competitive teams in 2025 and may have the potential to win a world title, which of course makes them Mercedes’ direct rival.
As a future incumbent of their rival team, Mercedes are potentially shielding important data from Hamilton, and this lack of insight into the car may have translated onto the track.
Furthermore, Hamilton's commitment to the team is not going to be on the same level as it was ten years ago, especially because he has decided to leave at the end of the year.
By joining Ferrari, Hamilton has the chance to recover lost motivation and rediscover his competitive spirit in F1.
Can Lewis Hamilton rediscover his fighting spirit at Ferrari?
As Hamilton ages, he will undoubtedly lose the edge he possessed earlier in his career, but those who are quick to write off Hamilton are in denial of his ability - just look at his performance in Silverstone!
Mercedes' performance decline has exposed Hamilton's flaws to critics, and they have rapidly jumped on the bandwagon to discredit a driver that has achieved so much in the pinnacle of motorsport.
Yet, these critics are also forgetting something fundamental, and that is whilst Hamilton may not be in his prime anymore, in his current form he still possesses more talent and experience than most of the F1 grid.
Mercedes' pace is doing an excellent job at hiding this fact, but once Hamilton is in a Ferrari capable of winning races these critics will have a shakier foundation to build their arguments on.
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