Alex Jacques says Lewis Hamilton’s focus is ‘drifting’ towards Ferrari after what he saw in Austin

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Lewis Hamilton retired from the US Grand Prix after spinning out on just the third lap. His final visit to Austin as a Mercedes driver was bitterly disappointing.

Hamilton had shown signs of promise on Friday, competing near the head of the field in the first two segments of Sprint qualifying. But a yellow flag, followed immediately by a mistake, condemned him to seventh on the grid.

He gained a spot in the Sprint itself but the main Grand Prix was a disaster. He suffered his first Q1 exit since China, which saw him start the race 18th on the grid.

A strong points finish seemed to be on the cards after he progressed to 12th in the early melee, only for the seven-time world champion to lose the rear of his car at the penultimate corner and beach it in the gravel. Mercedes suspect an issue with the W15 was to blame, rather than the driver.

Indeed, it would be a highly uncharacteristic error for a driver of Hamilton’s calibre. It’s his second retirement of the season – Australia (engine) was the first – and just his seventh since 2016.

The last time he spun out because of his own mistake was the 2009 Italian GP. He now looks unlikely to finish higher than sixth in the championship, with Carlos Sainz – the man he’s replacing at Ferrari – 38 points ahead.

Alex Jacques is seeing something ‘completely atypical’ from Lewis Hamilton before Ferrari move

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, commentator Alex Jacques suggested that Hamilton was increasingly ‘drifting’ towards Ferrari. Rather than being a conscious decision, this is the inevitable result of making a high-stakes move after 12 years.

He knows there’s little to fight for in the remainder of the season. He’ll want to beat George Russell, now just 10 points behind, and win their overall head-to-head, but the team are already almost guaranteed to finish fourth in the constructors’.

There will be a desire on both sides to ensure a fitting conclusion to the most successful partnership in F1 history. Hamilton’s emotional victory at Silverstone in July takes pressure off in this regard, though.

The 39-year-old is joining Ferrari in the hope of winning an unprecedented eighth title. Jacques says it’s natural that he’s preoccupied by that ‘massive move’, so can be forgiven for not producing ‘majestic’ performances.

“As soon as you sign that contract, a percentage of your brain is going to next year every single month that you run closer to it,” he said. “That’s what’s going to be defining for the rest of his career, not the final six races of 2024.

“The first six races of 2025 are going to establish a dynamic between Charles Leclerc, Fred Vasseur and Lewis Hamilton. I think his focus is understandably, and should be, in that direction.

“No one remembers 19th if you put together an eighth world championship. And so these races are completely atypical, certainly around here where he was just majestic in the first races that we ran around this circuit.

“I think his focus is drifting towards pastures new. This is a massive move. He’s not switched teams in such a long time.”

George Russell disagrees with Lewis Hamilton over cause of Mercedes spin

Martin Brundle agreed with Toto Wolff that there was ‘nothing’ Hamilton could do about his spin. Rewatching the onboard footage, he felt that the Briton ‘just turned in normally’ before his car snapped.

The Mercedes, while fast in moments, was especially erratic at the Circuit of the Americas. Both drivers spun in practice, and Russell crashed out of qualifying at the same spot where Hamilton’s race ended.

The 105-time race-winner reckons that the team’s nominal upgrade package may have been to blame. He noted that his teammate was excelling on a recovery drive from the pit lane to sixth without the new parts.

But Russell disagreed with Hamilton, suggesting the upgrades were ‘nothing’ to do with the instability. The W15 may be a race-winning car unlike its predecessor, but it continues to puzzle Mercedes.