In F-1, one is worth what his last race. And those of Lewis Hamilton, once intractable beast of the great circus, could not be more mundane this season. The seven-time champion lost favor with kryptonite in a controversial final of the 2021 World Cup in Abu Dhabi that is still going strong. Max Verstappen, who had already stolen the heritage of aggressiveness and ambition, snatched glory and infallibility, and the change in car regulations this year ended up plunging Lewis into misery: he is 6th, with 36 points, 68 from the lead, without having won yet in this 2022 horribilis.
You have to go back to 2016 to find a season in which Hamilton had not won any in the first five races, and until 2009, the year after his first crown, for his start to be worse. Then, too, the regulatory change and Brawn's miraculous double diffuser rocked the grid, and neither McLaren nor Lewis were able to defend the title.
Between the Hamilton of 13 years ago and the current one, the common denominator is the change in technical regulations. The elimination of aerodynamic elements from the chassis has led Mercedes to lose its hegemony over Ferrari and Red Bull. Or put another way: Mercedes had already diluted the superiority of its hybrid engine (last year Red Bull balanced it), and this year its two great competitors have ended up passing it, who have been able to better interpret the new rules with more efficient designs. The star's engineers have gone too bold, with a very radical racing car, without pontoons, and have not been able to transfer the data from the simulator to the track. And there they remain, lost in their labyrinth. And Hamilton, without results, more human than ever, surpassed even by his new neighbor, George Russell (4th, with 23 more points).
Never had a champion been so devalued since Fernando Alonso, who sympathized with Hamilton by showing understanding. “Lewis is driving as well as he has in the last 8 years. He dominated the sport and broke all the records with over 100 poles… and now he does a super lap and is a second behind, so welcome to my world”, he said in an interview on the BBC.
Meanwhile, Hamilton relies on Mercedes' proven ability to evolve. “The potential is in the car to be fighting to be ahead, for sure”, he said yesterday convinced that the team will be up again.
Meanwhile, the Englishman has been immersed in another war: with the FIA and its new president, Ben Sulayem, who has wanted to mark the package and has prohibited drivers from running with jewelry, in addition to forcing them to wear fireproof underpants, under penalty of not being able to compete from Monaco. And Hamilton has said they will have to cut off his ears or nose, because he has earrings, hoops and pieces literally fused to his skin. “I can't even take it off so the debate seems unnecessary to me,” said the Englishman, who was granted a two-race waiver by the FIA that expires at Montmeló.
-I understand that married people are allowed to run with the wedding ring... -he challenged the FIA yesterday, without intending to comply.
"Then you just need to get married…" Russell suggested.
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