Photo: Mercedes-Benz Media
As the F1 circus approaches the end of the first half of the 2024 season, Lewis Hamilton looks to wind down his Mercedes career on a high before moving to Ferrari in 2025.
Hamilton has endured three troublesome years at Mercedes, struggling with cars which have failed to help him add to his 103 wins and seven world championships.
Adding to the pain has been the dominance of Hamilton's rival Max Verstappen and Red Bull, who have cruised to three consecutive world championships and are expected to add a fourth in 2024.
On the other side of the Mercedes garage, George Russell has had a mixed two years at the Brackley-based outfit. There have been highs, such as victories in Brazil in 2022 and Austria in 2024, and lows, such as the Turn 1 incident with Hamilton in Qatar in 2023.
Russell could pick up the team leader baton from Hamilton in 2025. For that year, the Brit will likely be partnered by highly-rated Italian Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli, currently driving for PREMA in Formula 2.
But who is winning the inter-team battle between the old master and the young upstart?
Since then, Hamilton has only started on pole once, at the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix, when he produced a stellar final run to beat Verstappen by +0.003.
Russell, too, was a qualifying specialist before arriving at Mercedes. He managed to drag his Williams into Q3 four times and even claimed a front-row start at the 2021 Belgian GP.
Like Hamilton, Russell has been limited by his machinery, only taking two pole positions since 2022, the latest of which came at June's Canadian GP.
So far this season, Russell has the edge over Hamilton in the inter-team battle, out-qualifying his compatriot by 8-3 heading into July's British GP.
Russell again comes out on top of podiums, scoring 12 to Hamilton's eight, and is the only Mercedes driver to have won a race since 2022 with two victories. Hamilton may have gone winless over the last two seasons, but it doesn't explain why he failed to return to the middle step of the rostrum.
He came close to ending his win drought at the 2023 United States GP at Austin, coming within 2.2 seconds of Verstappen, who was struggling with brake problems.
Ultimately, it would be all for naught, as the stewards in post-race scrutineering found Hamilton and future teammate Charles Leclerc's cars to have excessive wear on the rear skid blocks, disqualifying them from the race.
Hamilton was also unlucky not to win the 2022 Sao Paulo GP at Interlagos after picking up damage following a collision with Verstappen on Lap 7, dropping him down to eighth. He quickly clawed his way back through the field and was only one and a half seconds behind Russell at the checkered flag. Another near miss for Hamilton came at the 2022 Dutch GP at Zandvoort, closing within 11 seconds of Verstappen before the safety car came out on Lap 55 for Valtteri Bottas' stationary Alfa Romeo.
Under safety car, Verstappen and Russell pitted for soft tyres, but Mercedes kept Hamilton out. As a result, Hamilton became a sitting duck, losing the lead at the restart to Verstappen, who went on to win his home race, while Hamilton finished fourth behind Leclerc and Russell.
The trio of lost wins, Mercedes' persistence with the doomed 'no' sidepod concept, and the porpoising which damaged Hamilton's back in 2022 have reduced his chances of winning.
However, like Michael Schumacher in his final three years at Mercedes, Hamilton also made some mistakes in his final three years with the team, particularly in the Turn 1 incident in Qatar with Russell. Meanwhile, in damp conditions at the 2022 Singapore GP, Hamilton lost a chance of victory by planting the wall on Lap 33 when running in fourth, damaging his front wing and putting himself out of contention.
All of these factors should not diminish Russell's performances over the past two seasons, who has shown signs of improvement as a driver as he stakes his claim to be Mercedes' new number one. Russell has all the ingredients to become a top-tier F1 driver, but one thing that lets him down is his overeagerness in wheel-to-wheel combat. His aggressiveness and occasionally buckling under pressure have previously cost him victories and strained his relationship with Hamilton.
In this writer's opinion, both drivers have performed well over the past three seasons, but Hamilton edges Russell as, although he's not been perfect, luck played a factor in his not winning races.
If things had been different in the three races in which Hamilton may have had a chance at victory, it's possible he could have stayed at Mercedes until the end of 2025.
Adding to the pain has been the dominance of Hamilton's rival Max Verstappen and Red Bull, who have cruised to three consecutive world championships and are expected to add a fourth in 2024.
On the other side of the Mercedes garage, George Russell has had a mixed two years at the Brackley-based outfit. There have been highs, such as victories in Brazil in 2022 and Austria in 2024, and lows, such as the Turn 1 incident with Hamilton in Qatar in 2023.
Russell could pick up the team leader baton from Hamilton in 2025. For that year, the Brit will likely be partnered by highly-rated Italian Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli, currently driving for PREMA in Formula 2.
But who is winning the inter-team battle between the old master and the young upstart?
Qualifying pace: Russell has the edge over one lap
Before 2022, Hamilton was a master of the art of a qualifying lap, taking 77 pole positions between 2013 and 2021.Since then, Hamilton has only started on pole once, at the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix, when he produced a stellar final run to beat Verstappen by +0.003.
Russell, too, was a qualifying specialist before arriving at Mercedes. He managed to drag his Williams into Q3 four times and even claimed a front-row start at the 2021 Belgian GP.
Like Hamilton, Russell has been limited by his machinery, only taking two pole positions since 2022, the latest of which came at June's Canadian GP.
So far this season, Russell has the edge over Hamilton in the inter-team battle, out-qualifying his compatriot by 8-3 heading into July's British GP.
Race pace: Hamilton unlucky not to add to his win tally
With Mercedes' pace woes dropping the team behind Ferrari and McLaren, Russell and Hamilton have been limited in what they can achieve with the machinery provided.Russell again comes out on top of podiums, scoring 12 to Hamilton's eight, and is the only Mercedes driver to have won a race since 2022 with two victories. Hamilton may have gone winless over the last two seasons, but it doesn't explain why he failed to return to the middle step of the rostrum.
He came close to ending his win drought at the 2023 United States GP at Austin, coming within 2.2 seconds of Verstappen, who was struggling with brake problems.
Ultimately, it would be all for naught, as the stewards in post-race scrutineering found Hamilton and future teammate Charles Leclerc's cars to have excessive wear on the rear skid blocks, disqualifying them from the race.
Hamilton was also unlucky not to win the 2022 Sao Paulo GP at Interlagos after picking up damage following a collision with Verstappen on Lap 7, dropping him down to eighth. He quickly clawed his way back through the field and was only one and a half seconds behind Russell at the checkered flag. Another near miss for Hamilton came at the 2022 Dutch GP at Zandvoort, closing within 11 seconds of Verstappen before the safety car came out on Lap 55 for Valtteri Bottas' stationary Alfa Romeo.
Under safety car, Verstappen and Russell pitted for soft tyres, but Mercedes kept Hamilton out. As a result, Hamilton became a sitting duck, losing the lead at the restart to Verstappen, who went on to win his home race, while Hamilton finished fourth behind Leclerc and Russell.
Conclusion: Russell is statistically better, but Hamilton still shows his class
It is a pity Mercedes hasn't been able to extract the maximum out of this partnership in their three years together. Although the team is slowly regaining ground on its rivals, it's all too little, too late for Hamilton, who is preparing for a new chapter at Ferrari.The trio of lost wins, Mercedes' persistence with the doomed 'no' sidepod concept, and the porpoising which damaged Hamilton's back in 2022 have reduced his chances of winning.
However, like Michael Schumacher in his final three years at Mercedes, Hamilton also made some mistakes in his final three years with the team, particularly in the Turn 1 incident in Qatar with Russell. Meanwhile, in damp conditions at the 2022 Singapore GP, Hamilton lost a chance of victory by planting the wall on Lap 33 when running in fourth, damaging his front wing and putting himself out of contention.
All of these factors should not diminish Russell's performances over the past two seasons, who has shown signs of improvement as a driver as he stakes his claim to be Mercedes' new number one. Russell has all the ingredients to become a top-tier F1 driver, but one thing that lets him down is his overeagerness in wheel-to-wheel combat. His aggressiveness and occasionally buckling under pressure have previously cost him victories and strained his relationship with Hamilton.
In this writer's opinion, both drivers have performed well over the past three seasons, but Hamilton edges Russell as, although he's not been perfect, luck played a factor in his not winning races.
If things had been different in the three races in which Hamilton may have had a chance at victory, it's possible he could have stayed at Mercedes until the end of 2025.
Google News