F1 News

Lewis Hamilton's former performance engineer on his form

Hamilton's former engineer delivers brutal judgement: 'Let's himself down!'

22 August at 09:08
4
  • Ben Stevens
  • Editor

Between 2014 and 2020, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes were the dominant pairing in Formula 1. In 2021, we were treated to a brilliant title battle between the Brit and Max Verstappen. Verstappen and Red Bull have since become F1's untouchable winners. Meanwhile, Hamilton has struggled in an uncompetitive car. He has been knocked out in Q1 multiple times since the start of 2022, and hadn't won a race in 945 days! His former performance engineer has revealed why! 

Why has Hamilton been so inconsistent? 

In an interview with Motorsport-Total, Lewis Hamilton's former performance engineer Phillip Brandle has revealed why the seven-time world champion has struggled so much with the current generation of Formula 1 cars. "What I think always sets him apart a little bit," Brandle began; "Both positively and negatively, is that when he knows he has the slightest chance of doing something, he can drive at 200 per cent.

"But when he has the feeling that the car isn’t running well, that he somehow has no chance of winning the race, then he unfortunately lets himself down a little, which is a real shame. The other is just really exorbitantly good: If he sees even the slightest chance, he still drives as well as anyone else, I think," Brandle concluded. 

GPblog's own ratings reflect this statement. Up until the Spanish Grand Prix, Hamilton did not score above a six. In Spain, he scored his first podium of the season and also scored an eight. Since then, he has scored another eight, a nine and a ten. When driving in a competitive car at the front of the field, Hamilton has scored better than he had when he was driving an uncompetitive Mercedes. 

Hamilton will be leaving Mercedes at the end of the season and will join Ferrari for 2025 and beyond. The seven-time world champion already has two wins this season, the only driver other than Max Verstappen to have won multiple races in 2024.