According to former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan, Lewis Hamilton is reportedly feeling “dejected” by Mercedes’ performance as he marks his final campaign with the Brackley-based outfit.
Former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan believes Lewis Hamilton’s disappointing performances in the first two races of the 2024 season have raised questions about his motivation to claim an eighth title.
The seven-time world champion is set to leave Mercedes at the end of the 2024 Formula One season after deciding to make the switch from the Silver Arrows to the Scuderia for 2025 as he seeks a new challenge.
Both Mercedes cars scored points in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia; however, Hamilton was overpowered by teammate George Russell both in qualifying and on race day in the two rounds.
George Russell is leading the way, having finished fifth in Bahrain and sixth in Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Hamilton placed seventh and ninth in the same two races and he hasn’t yet appeared to be in perfect form to edge Russell.
This is not completely unfamiliar ground for Hamilton as he endured a slow season start in 2023 compared to Russell. But in the latter part of the season, he steadily improved his performance and was consistently quicker than Russell.
Jordan speculates that Hamilton might be feeling demoralized this time around in an interview with co-host David Coulthard on the Formula for Success podcast.
The former team boss argues that regardless of whether the W15 is a better car to drive, it will still not win a race, drawing comparisons to Mercedes’ 2023 W14 struggles. Hamilton’s morale may be suffering as a result of his woeful lack of performance, especially in his last season with the squad.
“Lewis, I think, is a bit dejected already with the state of Mercedes,” Jordan said. “Mercedes and Toto [Wolff], it’s the same as last year, isn’t it? It’s started poorly.
“It’s very hard to catch up. When you’ve got somebody like Max Verstappen who has 51 points on the board, or something like that, already… I mean, it’s just ridiculous. How is Mercedes going to compete?
“The problem for all the other competitors is that other than Ferrari, I cannot see anyone making a serious challenge to this Red Bull team.”
Jordan pointed out Hamilton’s form in comparison with other drivers like McLaren’s Lando Norris and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who need a solid performance to keep their campaigns going.
He said that in order to prevent the impression that Russell is now the faster driver at Mercedes, Hamilton urgently needs “a big result.”
“Lewis… God, he needs a result really badly,” he added. “The reason why is because George is outshining him, just like what happened this time last year.
“Sure, Lewis got himself together halfway through and then went on to have a very strong second half of the season.
“But the championship is not two halves. It’s a continuous race, there’s 24 races and, in the races, ninth at the weekend. It’s not good enough, he needs a big result. That’s what I think.”
This evaluation reflected what Coulthard had previously disclosed to Channel 4 in Jeddah. The former McLaren and Red Bull driver feels that Hamilton has already signed out ahead of his Ferrari switch.
“He’s just not been settled with this car,” Coulthard said. “And you can tell, you know, George is just honing the lap time right now and you can feel that Lewis is on the back foot.
“What we do know though, if he does find a window of performance, then you know he will deliver. But right now, it’s looking like his decision to head off to Ferrari, mentally, he is already there.”
In an interview before the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend, Hamilton discussed his goals for his final year with Mercedes and how he wants to end the year successfully even though wins or titles aren’t achievable.
“I think it’s really just about how we go about our processes. It’s how we work together as a team,” he said.
“We didn’t win the championship last year, but coming second felt like a real triumph for us – from a car that we were really struggling with to then fighting and, also as a driver, fighting in the top three for the Drivers’ Championship.
“Obviously, we were a long way from first but there were lots of wins last year. I think it’s really just giving it our all and knowing that we didn’t leave any stone unturned.
“Just embracing and enjoying the moments, every moment that I get with the team in the garage or through qualifying, just being present. I think it’s easy in life not to be present in the sense of being distracted by all these other things.
“So I’m really enjoying engaging and working with this group, nothing feels like it’s changed. There’s a lot of love here.”
