After four races and a sprint, George Russell has 49 points in the 2022 Formula 1 season and is fourth in the world championship. Lewis Hamilton only has 29 points. In the qualifying duel it is 2:2, in the race duel Russell Mercedes is even ahead with 3:1. Something that not many experts expected against a seven-time world champion.
Now there is a theory as to why that could be: “The experts are currently discussing a bit whether George’s time at Williams was good and whether he can get more out of material that is not necessarily competitive and not good for the top 3 . That he took a lot with him in the last few years at Williams, that can be a good thing,” speculates Alexander Bodo in the “Sky F1 Analysis” after Imola.
Bodo is close to Mercedes. In his job as a race strategist he works with current Formula 1 teams and as CEO of Paceteq he also supports current Grand Prix teams with data analysis.
Bodo was recently a guest at the members’ regulars’ table on the “Formel1.de” YouTube channel. There he spoke at length about his job.
In Imola in particular, the performance difference between Russell and Hamilton is easy to explain, Bodo analyses: “If you’re up front, in the top 3, top 4, or like Russell in a P5 position for a long time, it’s easier to drive. You beat don’t hang out with others, you can take your boot off.”
Formula 1: Does Lewis Hamilton lack “self-confidence”?
“Lewis loses three to four seconds during the pit stop, stays back there in this pack, surrounded by three or four drivers. He can’t go forward, can’t go backwards and then not much happens. You don’t move much when the car is not necessarily better than those around it, I think that makes the difference,” said the “Sky” expert.
In a recent video on the “Formel1.de” YouTube channel, “Sky” expert Timo Glock also talks about Hamilton’s tricky situation.
Glock has recognized, he says, that Hamilton “simply lacks the self-confidence in the car and Russell can handle it a bit better at the moment. But of course Russell also says that the car is difficult to drive.”
Many problems at Mercedes
Hamilton is currently in a situation when he has to fight opponents like Lance Stroll for 14th or 15th places “because the Mercedes simply lacks the top speed, the performance is a bit lacking”, “in a situation that he has been in for seven or eight years no longer knows. That’s just something new for him, “says Glock.
But the 37-year-old is far from losing his passion for racing. Bodo reveals: “As you can hear, he often drives in the simulator.” That was “not necessarily everyday life” at Mercedes for the last seven years.
It’s no secret that Hamilton prefers to race and is less keen on testing and sitting in the simulator.