Liam Lawson explains why Lewis Hamilton is struggling with new Mercedes

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Liam Lawson has offered his take on why Lewis Hamilton appears to be under-performing in his new Mercedes car.

Hamilton has lost out to teammate George Russell in both qualifying and the race at each of the two 2024 events.

And Visa Cash App RB reserve driver Lawson believes he knows why we’re not seeing the best of the Englishman.

Hamilton, who progressed to seventh from ninth on the grid in Bahrain, only took home two points in Jeddah.

Russell, by contrast, grabbed eight for the Silver Arrows to increase the early gap between the pair to 10.

Liam Lawson on what’s going wrong for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes

Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Lawson explained that Hamilton simply doesn’t have confidence in his machinery right now.

The New Zealander, who deputised for an injured Daniel Ricciardo for a five-race stint last season, says the seven-time world champion is finding the W15 unpredictable.

He said: “If you look at Lewis for example, who’s obviously not 100% happy and hasn’t been with that car, you can imagine that everytime he approaches the start of a qualifying lap, or any lap really, he’s not going to be 100% confident with what he’s got underneath him and know exactly what it’s going to do.”

Why did Hamilton struggle in Saudi Arabia?

A tricky Thursday set the tone for Hamilton in Jeddah as he reported rear bouncing in his Mercedes car.

On race day, the 39-year-old questioned the team’s decision to leave him out during an early safety car period, according to Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft.

The majority of the field pitted when Lance Stroll’s crash led to a full-course caution.

After losing spots to Sergio Perez in the Red Bull and future Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, he was able to produce what Karun Chandhok called a ‘defensive masterclass’ to hold off Oscar Piastri.

While he was running in fifth at the time, he knew he would have to make a pit stop eventually.

When he did come in, he dropped down to ninth place and tried to pass Lando Norris, who had followed the same strategy.

However, the Mercedes was the second-slowest car on the grid through the high-speed sector one corners, and he repeatedly lost ground.

The team are investigating what may be a ‘fundamental’ design issue ahead of the Australian Grand Prix next week.