Lewis Hamilton shares what he’s ‘realised’ about 2024 qualifying struggles against George Russell

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Lewis Hamilton entered the summer break 34 points ahead of Mercedes teammate George Russell. But that doesn’t necessarily paint a full picture of how the first 14 races have gone.

Russell has actually beaten Hamilton in seven of the 11 races where both drivers have been classified. Neither of them finished the Australian GP in March, but the 26-year-old suffered a mechanical retirement at Silverstone, where Hamilton took victory.

Russell, who had won in Austria, thought he’d triumphed for the second time this season when he held off Hamilton’s late charge at Spa. He’d executed a one-stop strategy to perfection, while his teammate and the rest of the contenders came in twice.

However, it emerged after the race that his car was underweight and he was duly disqualified. That saw him give up another 25 points to Hamilton.

Russell’s advantage has actually been most pronounced in qualifying, where he leads the head-to-head 10-4. Hamilton has at least prevailed in the last two events to narrow the deficit.

As you can see in the table above, only three drivers have been more dominant in this regard. The Mercedes record is particularly striking, however, given that Hamilton has bagged more poles (104) than any other driver in F1 history.

Lewis Hamilton admits he was ‘too stubborn’ amid Mercedes qualifying struggles

Speaking to Motorsport Week, Hamilton reflected on his Saturday difficulties this season. He admitted that it’s taken him too long to adapt to the W15.

Mercedes have privately told Hamilton that he’s pushing too hard, while Russell is nursing the tyres more adeptly. Preparatory laps have a huge impact on qualifying times in modern F1.

Hamilton is the second-most experienced driver on the grid with 346 race starts. He’s driven various generations of F1 cars, but seems to have found the ground effect challengers particularly tricky.

“I’m stubborn,” he said. “And so, I keep trying to drive the way I want to drive. But then I realise it doesn’t always work and then I try to kind of massage my way through. But it’s not working that well.

“Still to this point, I think ultimately as a driver, you have to be adaptive. You have to concede that sometimes your approaches to certain things aren’t perfect.

“You just start looking at ways in which you can still hold on to the essence of what’s made you as good as you’ve been and see how you can move the ball back.”

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur hits back at Lewis Hamilton critics over George Russell deficit

Hamilton is leaving Mercedes to join Ferrari at the end of the season. But his new team aren’t concerned by the difficulties he’s faced in 2024.

Team principal Fred Vasseur pointed out that Hamilton is still ahead of Russell despite enduring his poorest-ever start to a season. Chairman John Elkann has also reiterated his faith.

Elkann says Hamilton’s experience breeds consistency, which is particularly important as Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren all take points off one another. The Scuderia will hope to contend for the title in 2025, or failing that 2026.

In the immediate, Damon Hill has warned Hamilton of a looming issue. He expects Mercedes to exclude him from certain meetings after the summer break to ensure he can’t bring any secrets about the 2025 car with him to Maranello.