Mercedes Head of Trackside Engineering Andrew Shovlin doesn’t believe driving style was the main factor behind a turbulent 2024 Formula 1 campaign for Lewis Hamilton.
Despite scoring two Grand Prix victories in 2024, Hamilton had a tricky campaign with the Mercedes W15.
The seven-time champion finished seventh in the Drivers’ standings, not befitting his lofty standards.
It marks the third year in a succession of struggles in the ground effect era of F1, leading to speculation that Hamilton’s late braking driving style could be behind his problems, similar to Daniel Ricciardo or even Kevin Magnussen.
Shovlin, however, isn’t so sure this is the main cause, saying: ”I think these days, a lot of it is keeping heat out of the rear tyres.
“If you approach a corner in a way that that means that they’re hot, or if you’re having to turn the car on the throttle, then you will struggle with that,” he added.
“[Braking style] may be a factor in amongst it all, but I don’t really know enough about Magnussen and Ricciardo to know whether that was their issue.
“But certainly keeping the heat out of the rear tyres on a single lap is the most important thing at about half to two-thirds of the circuits.”
Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff seems to think that driving style had a hand in Hamilton’s struggles, telling F1 TV “It’s just this generation of cars, particularly how the car is now.
“It’s just something that he likes, he’s a late braker, he carries a lot of speed on the entry to the corner and the car doesn’t take it,” Wolff added.
“You can see him inking out, taking more and more time intellectually, and trying to find more performance.
“We need to give him a car that’s to his liking. He’s very team-oriented, doesn’t say anything, but he’s not happy with the car.”
Hard to pinpoint Hamilton deficit to Russell
One startling stat in 2024 was Hamilton’s deficit to Mercedes team-mate George Russell in qualifying conditions.
Russell out-qualified Hamilton, F1’s all-time pole-sitter, 19 times to five throughout the 2024 campaign.
Again, Shovlin reasoned it wasn’t driving style that triggered Hamilton’s qualifying deficit but focused more on deficiencies with the Mercedes W15.
“Lewis is wise enough to know that if something is working for George, he can adapt his driving to go in that direction,” Shovlin explained.
“There are things that you can see that ultimately, when they really start pushing, then that’s when you start to get the snaps of oversteer on exit.
“And that, on occasion, is an area that Lewis might suffer more from than George.
“But, as I said, the focus for our year has been, how do we get the car in a way that Lewis needs to allow him to drive it on the limit and not suffer those problems.”
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