Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton’s season is going from bad to worse. So where has it all gone wrong for the motorsport legend?
It has been a difficult season for Lewis Hamilton who has struggled to adapt to his Mercedes following new regulations and designs.
The problems have been identified, but the solutions not so much. The issues include too much drag, not enough grip and terrible aerodynamic bouncing on the straights.
The new Formula 1 cars are based on ground effect aerodynamics, meaning the floor and its vortexes creates the downforce that pulls the car onto the track ie. The more downforce, the more speed.
Some manufacturers, like Ferrari, have opted for a thick body with their baby bath sidepods (an aerodynamic device to improve airflow between the front and rear wheels), while Mercedes went the complete opposite, introducing zero-pods.
Most F1 teams are experiencing ‘bouncing’ to some degree, however for Mercedes there is nothing helping with the floor’s rigidity.
Following Hamilton’s 13th place finish at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff admitted fault.
“We are not good enough for a world champion, we just need to fix the car,” he told the media following the race in Imola, Italy.
“I wouldn’t say there is such thing as a concept being wrong, but is there a part of what we have done that simply doesn’t work with the regulations.”
Embed from Getty ImagesWhile Hamilton was on the cool-down lap, Wolff apologised on the team radio and made the stunning admission that the car is ‘undriveable’.
“Sorry for what you have needed to drive today.
“We’ll move from there, but this was a terrible race.”
The seven-time world champion faced the humiliation of being lapped by rival Max Verstappen on lap 43.
The British motorsport great now finds himself trailing championship leader Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by a whopping 58 points.
“I’m out of the championship for sure,” Hamilton said post-race.
