‘Improved without Hamilton,’ F1 insider gives brutal verdict on Lewis Hamilton’s absence from Mercedes

Former F1 designer Gary Anderson did not shy away from claiming that Mercedes has improved without Lewis Hamilton.

‘Improved without Hamilton,’ F1 insider gives brutal verdict on Lewis Hamilton’s absence from Mercedes

Toto Wolff (via PlanetF1) and Lewis Hamilton (via Getty images)

Lewis Hamilton made his highly anticipated move to Ferrari in the 2025 season after ditching his long-time squad, Mercedes. The Briton left a vacancy at Brackley, which was very hard to fill by any other driver. Still, Toto Wolff took a gamble with the prodigy Kimi Antonelli, which seemingly paid off well. Now, the team’s pace has continued to improve even with the seven-time champion’s absence. As such, former F1 designer, Gary Anderson gave a blunt verdict on Mercedes benefiting without Hamilton.

Lewis Hamilton joined Mercedes back in 2013 and achieved one of the greatest driver-constructor partnerships in Formula 1. The Briton won six highly coveted drivers’ titles with the German carmaker. However, he faced massive struggles in his final years at Brackley and won only a handful of races. Due to this, many believed that Brackley had peaked in chassis development and couldn’t improve further.

However, the 2025 season witnessed an astonishing revival of pace for Mercedes without Lewis Hamilton. Gary Anderson made some striking remarks against Hamilton’s feedback to Brackley, which potentially caused them to dip in performance. Anderson recalled that the 40-year-old would often test different setups with the team while George Russell did his best with what he had.

Now, without Hamilton, Mercedes continues to grow and improve in performance, something which was hard back then. Anderson further made a sarcastic comment that Brackley had a new development path, all thanks to the younger and less experienced drivers. Surprisingly, Mercedes’ start to the 2025 Formula 1 season marks their strongest performance since the introduction of ground effect regulations in 2022.

Hamilton often said that he was experimenting with the setup, while Russell focused on making the most of what he had. I believe that Mercedes will grow as a team and as a group of engineers without Hamilton. Now Mercedes has a new development path thanks to the contribution of younger, less experienced, and less successful drivers.

Gary Anderson said, as reported by formulapassion

Gary Anderson asserts Lewis Hamilton ‘lost his way’ in Formula 1

Lewis Hamilton was once a strong contender for achieving the record-breaking eighth driver’s title in Formula 1. However, since the 2021 season, Hamilton hasn’t been able to contend for the drivers’ title by a large margin. The Briton was expected to finally fight for the championship with Ferrari, which already seems like a far-fetched dream now. Hence, Gary Anderson made a shocking remark on the 40-year-old’s chances at the pinnacle of motorsport.

Fred Vasseur, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc (via Motorsport Week)
Fred Vasseur, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc (via Motorsport Week)

Anderson asserts that not much has changed for Hamilton in terms of performance since the last three difficult years at Mercedes. The Briton could manage a similar trajectory in the 2025 season with Ferrari, like he did with the German carmaker. The Irishman iterated that despite a switch in team, the seven-time champion faced the same issues in performance. As such, the 74-year-old equated that Hamilton had lost his way in Formula 1 and didn’t have the same potential as before.

It seems that not much has changed from the last three difficult years at Mercedes, where he never fully got to grips with the ground effect cars. Despite the team change, he is facing the same problems. Hamilton has lost his way.

Gary Anderson noted

Lewis Hamilton still hasn’t given up on his chances with Ferrari in the 2025 season. The year has just begun, and Hamilton has performed poorly in the first five races. The 40-year-old is hopeful of continuing to improve with the Italian constructor and improving his position in the pecking order. The Italian constructor still seems to lag behind the rivals’ ever-growing pace in the final year of the ground-effect era.

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