Ralf Schumacher asserts Lewis Hamilton “no longer believes” in Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton has found it extremely difficult to get on top of the Mercedes W15.

Ralf Schumacher asserts Lewis Hamilton “no longer believes” in Mercedes

Ralf Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton (Via: Imago)

Since Lewis Hamilton‘s contract with Mercedes is coming to a close at the end of this year, the British driver wants to end the season strong. But, that doesn’t seem to appear in the stars of the seven-time world champion, as Mercedes is currently facing more difficulties than ever before. Ralf Schumacher claims that Hamilton has already moved on from the team.

Lewis Hamilton made his official move to Ferrari in 2025 known at the beginning of February, but he still wanted to bring his current team back on top this year. Although Hamilton is happy to be a member of the Mercedes where he has spent nearly half of his career, Ralf Schumacher feels that the seven-time world champion has lost interest.

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The Hamilton-led Mercedes team is currently fourth in the 2024 Constructors Championship.

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He has fled by 2025. He no longer believes in the team. Mercedes has a problem at the moment
Ralf Schumacher told Sky Germany

Mercedes’s worst nightmare came true with the W15, as the car has a lot of issues. The team had a double DNF during the Australian GP which is very rare in their case. However, the team has analyzed the pattern and thus, had a slightly better weekend in Japan. 

Mercedes explains the details of damage done to Lewis Hamilton’s car during the Japanese GP

Lewis Hamilton’s car sustained damage to his front-right endplate during the Japanese GP. While going into turn three he and Charles Leclerc made a slight contact after the race restart. Ferrari didn’t face any issues with their car, however, the damage changed the trajectory of Hamilton’s race.

Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff
Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff (Via: IMAGO)

While talking about the details of the damage on the W15, the trackside engineering director, Andrew Shovlin had the following to say.

It did lose a bit and more than the absolute amount of downforce you lost, it just made the car a bit more understeery on a stint where we were probably already a little bit on the understeery side.
Andrew Shovlin via: Crash.net

Despite the damage not impacting the pace of Hamilton’s car, it surely affected its balance. This is one of the reasons why the team decided to let George Russell pass him. Hamilton ended up dropping down to P9 during the Japanese GP. Keeping everything in view, the 39-year-old will eye a much better weekend at the upcoming Shanghai event.

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