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Damon Hill believes Lewis Hamilton has lost his qualifying edge in the races or might be backing off due to age.
The former F1 champion feels the seven-time world champion might not be as quick as he was in the past.
Speaking on the F1 nation podcast, Hill explained the qualifying deficit between Lewis Hamilton and his teammate, saying:
“Niki Lauda had Alain Prost arrive. When the older, experienced driver is faced by the speed of a young arrival, they can get depressed about it or devote their energy to making sure the outcome in the race is the thing that matters. They may give up a bit in qualifying. In their late-30s they can no longer do those transcendental laps. They focus on the laps."
"George is super quick and is revelling in the early part of his career. I don’t know if Lewis has acknowledged that he can’t match that. I’m sure he will do, eventually. It’s possible that the instinctive, unconscious speed has started to leave him.”
Comparing the Mercedes pairing to that of Niki Lauda and Alain Prost at McLaren, Hill believes that drivers tend to lose their qualifying edge with age. The feisty and energetic difference between a senior and junior driver can make the bets of multiple world champions question their potential.
With George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in qualifying, the Mercedes junior has managed to out-qualify his senior teammate time and again since the 2022 season.
With Hamilton having not won a race since the Saudi Arabian GP in 2021, the performance slump in 2022 could have led to a complicated dynamic in 2023. The 1996 world champion wonders if the Mercedes champion has acknowledged his lack of pace to Russell, and has started to accept it.
Lewis Hamilton believes stronger rear end makes the Red Bull more superior to the Mercedes
Comparing the W13 to the W14, Lewis Hamilton believes that the former suffered from serious balance issues and bouncing right up until the last race of 2022. The Briton feels that the W14 does not have the bouncing problem but lacks pace compared to the Red Bull.
Explaining the strength of the RB19, the seven-time world champion believes that a strong rear end gives his rivals an advantage at almost every circuit.
Speaking to the on-site media at the Australian GP weekend, Lewis Hamilton said:
“We had bouncing until the very last lap of the last race. The race where we had the least amount of bouncing was, I think, in Brazil. This year's car, we don't have the bouncing. There's small remnants of it every now and then."
"The [W13's] balance was pretty much the same through the whole year. It was a massively front-ended car, very little rear end, and very pointy from the moment you turned in, and very unpredictable, massively unpredictable. We still have generally a very strong front and not as good a rear as we would hope to have.”
Comparing their own car to the Red Bulls, Lewis Hamilton said:
“If you look at the Red Bulls, the places where they get the power earlier and the speed they can carry through the corner just because they have a much stronger rear end. But this year's car is slightly more predictable and nicer to drive particularly because you don't have the bouncing.”
Last year, Mercedes finished third in the constructors championship as they struggled to improve their car throughout the season, and the 2023 season has started out with them being beaten by their customer team Aston Martin. Although they are third in the championship, they face stiff competition from Ferrari and Aston Martin, who might have better cars.
Reliability has also been a problem with the Mercedes engine, where two out of three Mercedes powered cars have retired in the last three races. In Saudi Arabia, Lance Stroll suffered a power failure and George Russell retired from the Australian GP. Reliability could become an added problem for Mercedes in a 23 race-long season.
