Lewis Hamilton has been a man of perfection, always working towards delivering the best possible result for Mercedes. And of course, the constant yearning for success rewarded the Briton with a whopping seven world championship titles. However, since the 2022 season, things haven’t really worked in Hamilton’s favor, with the evident Mercedes downfall triggering one of the worst stints of his prolonged F1 career.
Victories became entirely out of reach while podiums played a rather annoying peek-a-boo with the Mercedes superstar. And amidst such a demoralizing campaign, the Knighted British legend is now finding himself encountering yet another obstacle in his desperate pursuit of glory. After having nailed his qualifying outings all his life, Hamilton is in the midst of a rather awry phase at the moment.
Other than the one-off Hungarian Grand Prix treasure, Hamilton hasn’t been able to match George Russell in qualifying sessions, often finding himself on the back foot heading into the main race. And of course, this was probably what held Hamilton back from winning the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend. Hence, the seven-time world champion openly admitted that he has been “sh*t” with qualifying.
Lewis Hamilton frustrated with Singapore GP heartbreak
One might wonder why Singapore was a heartbreak for Hamilton. Indeed, the Briton was on the podium, but, it certainly could have been a lot more than that. With struggling Sainz and Norris ahead, all Hamilton needed was George Russell out of the way to get his elbows out and claim the gettable victory.
Unfortunately for Hamilton, there was no convincing Russell to yield his position, especially on the penultimate lap of the race. Therefore, ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, Hamilton acknowledged wanting to up his qualifying performance in the hopes of finally winning a race this year.
⚠️ | Lewis Hamilton on his qualifying form:
“My qualifying has been **** in the last two years. That has to change.
“I’m being honest. Terrible, way below average.”
[@UOL] pic.twitter.com/BTqcLTWFri
— formularacers (@formularacers_) September 21, 2023
“My qualifying has been sh*t in the last two years,” he said according to UOL. “I’m blunt. Terrible. Way below average. That has to change. Saturday night I was very quiet. I went to sleep hoping to wake up with a better mentality on Sunday. But I woke up still very thoughtful.”
Overall, after acing his Sundays in recent weeks, Hamilton finally shifts his focus to Saturday, hoping to maximize his chances of claiming the one-off victory, if not this year, at least next year. Hence, with six more races left in this season, can Hamilton find a way to claim that morale-boosting victory? Let’s see what the future holds for the record-equaling world champion.