Mercedes chief claims Lewis Hamilton has made himself a ‘victim’ by continuously being open to changes with the W15

Lewis Hamilton has so far managed to amass only 27 points in the 2024 Driver's Championship.

Mercedes chief claims Lewis Hamilton has made himself a ‘victim’ by continuously being open to changes with the W15

Lewis Hamilton (Via: IMAGO)

Lewis Hamilton has been facing some severe performance issues with the W15 this year. Mercedes has been making big changes in its challenger, which seem to have caused greater instability in the car, says Mercedes’ Trackside Engineering Director, Andrew Shovlin.

Lewis Hamilton has failed to register a win since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion has faced several issues with Mercedes cars in recent years, but with the W15, Hamilton has gotten off to an extremely tough start, mustering only 27 points after the first six races.

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The first few races of the season have shown some stark differences in the performances of the two Mercedes drivers, with George Russell outperforming Hamilton on multiple occasions. A major reason for this is Hamilton’s willingness to making ‘big changes’ to his car.

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Lewis in particular is open to big set-up changes this year. He wants to learn more about where he can get the most out of the car. He made himself a victim a few times. But if you don’t change anything, you won’t learn anything. It would be wrong to say: That’s just the way things are, let’s make the best of it.
Andrew Shovlin said in an interview with Auto Motor Und Sport

Hamilton has always had that drive to ooze out as much as he can from the car, but to his dismay, this has backfired for him this year. After getting knocked out in Q1 after a successful P2 in the Shanghai Sprint, there are some issues that need to be resolved ahead of the Emilia-Romagna GP.

George Russell feels Mercedes is following the ‘right direction’ with the W15

While Andrew Shovlin has made it known that Hamilton has been a victim of his own decisions, his teammate, George Russell feels Mercedes is following the right direction with W15. He thinks that the Brackley-based outfit can do some wonders going forward into the 2024 season.

George Russell
George Russell (via IMAGO)
It is clear the direction we need to head, but that platform to develop is what keeps people motivated. We have a clear direction. We overstepped the changes we made with this car, we now just need to reign it back in and find that happy medium.
George Russell said in an interview ahead of the Emilia-Romagna GP

Mercedes is currently in fourth place in the 2024 Constructors Championship. The outfit has so far proved second best to outfits like Ferrari, McLaren, and Red Bull, but keeping in view the optimism that Russell has shown, it is going to be fascinating to see how the team would perform during the upcoming Imola event!

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