Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton is having a rather sad season after the mishap that the 2022 season proved to be. With a total of 4 podiums and no wins, the Englishman is yet to have his redemption season for his ‘snub’ at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Fans have mixed opinions about his performance lately and they seem to have “never seen them bottle it as bad as this”
This race week at Zandvoort, however, the Hertfordshire driver clocked in at 3rd, 4th, and 5th in FP1, FP2, and FP3 respectively, and ended up qualifying in 13th place to the dismay of the Silver Arrows. Hamilton expected a “close” fight between table toppers Red Bull and Mercedes but the speculation was proved wrong with Mercedes’ terrible performance at qualifying.
Earlier, it was conveyed by Hamilton to SkySports that there had been a transition from perceiving the car as almost identical to last year’s model to implementing a series of changes.
He mentioned “My goal is to try and figure out how to have the best 10 races I’ve ever had in the second half of the season.” and that there were minor adaptations being undertaken in the progression leading up to the upcoming races sounding rather optimistic about the rest of the season in an earlier instance.
Fans react to the team bottling qualifying at Zandvoort
Spectators and Twitter users had interesting things to say about the incident.
His tragic qualifying results have sparked some controversy among fans and ‘haters’. People have been pointing out the strategic blunders the Mercedes team is making. A similar miscommunication incident happened at the sprint race at Spa this year where teammate George Russell and Hamilton crashed into one another. The Silver Arrows team is facing similar issues that are happening with Ferrari, particularly during this ongoing season.
Will Mercedes ever regain its former glory?
During qualifying on Saturday at the Dutch Grand Prix, Mercedes experienced an entirely distinct conclusion. While young Russell put on an outstanding performance resulting in a remarkable third place on the grid. Yet, his fellow Briton suffered a significant setback and finished in the much less desirable spot. The team principal, Toto Wolff was rather discontent as a result of this event.
Lewis finishes in P6 after chaos-fuelled race at Zandvoort. A late puncture unfortunately dropped George down to P17. pic.twitter.com/lPlYaLrDOf
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) August 27, 2023
The Austrian driver expressed his displeasure after the qualifying session was over, criticizing Fernando Alonso and the officials. He highlighted the sense of unfairness Lewis Hamilton had experienced. But this does not change the impact of the race.
While Max Verstappen equaled Sebastian Vettel’s record at Zandvoort, the Mercedes is stuck with a disappointing performance. As the teams are heading towards the rescheduled Italian Grand Prix, they have a lot to catch up on in terms of outcome.