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Lewis Hamilton's 2022 F1 season at Mercedes is not what anyone would call desirable. The driver took a social break of sorts after the debacle of the Abu Dhabi GP last season. When he ended the hiatus, he came back looking for vengeance. The driver wanted to exact revenge on everyone and reclaim what he believed was truly his. He was optimistic he would have the machinery capable of fighting at the front, and why should he not? The team had produced the benchmark machinery on the grid for the last 8 seasons.
Lewis Hamilton was confident! A bit too confident when he claimed that his team did not make mistakes. The season has been a grind for Mercedes and its star driver. He has not won a race this season and has only half the points that championship leader Max Verstappen has.
Having a bad year after a stretch of 8 years is acceptable. These are not the things that would affect Lewis Hamilton much. However, there have been a few developments at Mercedes this season that should concern the 7-time world champion. Especially because the chain reaction of a seismic event starts with small developments. Lewis Hamilton, being the old veteran that he is, would have noticed them. Let's take a look at what these developments are
#1 George Russell's competitive levels versus Lewis Hamilton
Looking at the points table after the Italian GP, George Russell has 203 points to his name while Lewis Hamilton has 168 points. Now, on the face of it, this might look a bit alarming for Lewis. He faces a 35-point deficit against Russell.
The thing is, the points standings can be misleading at times. In the first few races of the season, Hamilton had to run experimental setups to help improve the car. As a result, while George Russell was getting consistent podiums, Lewis Hamilton was struggling to match his teammate.
Since the Canadian GP, things have changed as Mercedes is not running the experimental setups and Hamilton has been able to compete on a level footing. As soon as he got his hands on it, he was the better driver. Lewis has enjoyed a minuscule although meaningful advantage over George Russell. Overall, if we have to take a punt on who would be the faster of the two drivers over the weekend, the balance is towards Hamilton at the moment.
However, the issue here is that Hamilton is not getting any younger. Russell is only going to get better given that he is still in his first season at Mercedes and has a lot to learn.
#2 That call to pit at Zandvoort
Russell received a lot of flak (from LH fans) for his decision to pit for fresh soft tyres at the Dutch GP. The situation at the time of the race dictated that the two Mercedes drivers play the team game. Looking at the way Max Verstappen cruised past, it's hard to see if he could have been stopped if Russell had not pitted as well.
Regardless, what George Russell and Mercedes did by pitting for softs at that stage was expose Lewis Hamilton at the front. Hamilton was easily jumped by three cars, including Russell, and he finished the race in P4.
If it was Valterri Bottas who had made this request instead of George Russell, the outcome would have been different. When he was at Mercedes, Bottas was forced to persevere on compromised strategies several times. One of the reasons behind it was because Lewis was considered to be heads and shoulders above his teammate.
When it came to Russell, there was no objection to pitting for fresh soft tires. There were no orders given to back up the field and let Lewis escape into the distance. Mercedes simply complied and let Russell run his independent race. Does it have to do with the fact that Russell is seen more as an equal to Lewis as compared to the image Bottas had? And if that is the case, is it because Russell has been very close to Lewis in terms of performance this season? If Bottas was around, he would not have been allowed to pit, Lewis Hamilton knows that well and the situation would have registered in his mind.
#3 Rumors of Daniel Ricciardo joining Mercedes as a reserve driver
What was slightly surprising in the last few weeks was Daniel Ricciardo getting linked with Mercedes. The Australian is rumored to have become a part of the team as a reserve driver. For Mercedes, it is certainly a catch to get a hold of a driver of Daniel Ricciardo's caliber. Having someone like him in your ranks does more good than harm
At the same time, it could be argued that Mercedes might be convinced of George Russell's potential and are looking at life beyond Lewis Hamilton. They are aware that he is getting close to 40, and while Fernando Alonso has shown that the pace has nothing to do with age, it's still a tough sell for any team.
To add to this, what could become problematic is the kind of money Hamilton gets paid. Paying a driver $1 mn per week is very expensive ($50mn per year). Especially if the driver's teammate makes a fraction of it and is better than him.
F1 is a business at the end of the day. One of the most successful partnerships in the sport, the Ferrari-Michael Schumacher partnership, also ended on a similar note. Ferrari felt that an aging Michael Schumacher was not the right guy for the team and they (supposedly) pushed him out and signed Kimi Raikkonen.
Mercedes already has a driver in George Russell who is almost matching Lewis Hamilton in his first season with the team. They could choose the younger, more hungry, and arguably less expensive option for the future. With Daniel Ricciardo in line for a reserve driver role, a succession plan for Lewis Hamilton may be in place, and he may need to keep an eye on how things are going in F1.
