Marc Surer believes Lewis Hamilton has a ‘problem’ at Mercedes and is showing the seven-time Formula 1 champion’s big ‘weakness’ that George Russell can overcome.
The Silver Arrows head to the Japanese GP this weekend eager to bounce back from a torrid Australian GP round. Mercedes endured their first double DNF since the 2018 Austrian GP in Melbourne last time out. It even only added to the Brackley team’s early season misery, too.
An engine failure on Lap 15 forced Hamilton to retire from the Australian GP after P7 and P9 finishes at the Bahrain GP and Saudi Arabian GP. While Russell crashed on the final lap of the Australian GP after finishing in fifth and sixth place in Sakhir and Jeddah to begin his season.
Correlation issues hamper Mercedes’ bid to give Hamilton and Russell a faster F1 car
Mercedes heavily revised their design philosophy with the W15 for 2024 after going winless for the first time since 2011 last year. But the Silver Arrows have not unlocked their car’s full potential after problems with the correlation between their wind tunnel and on-track data.
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The W15 marked the end of Mercedes’ failed zero-pod philosophy in a bid to give Hamilton and Russell a more predictable rear-end. Yet the car is still somewhat temperamental and is behind Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren’s pace. Aston Martin have also been close challengers.
Surer feels ‘spoiled’ Hamilton has a ‘problem’ that Russell can overcome
Aston Martin have scored just one fewer point than Mercedes through the first three rounds of 2024. The Silverstone squad have sealed 25 points to the Silver Arrows’ 26. Red Bull head the early teams’ championship standings with 97 over Ferrari with 93 and McLaren with 55.
Surer believes Mercedes’ ongoing difficulties to deliver Hamilton a competitive car is giving the 39-year-old a ‘problem’ he cannot overcome, unlike Russell. The former Brabham driver feels Hamilton has been a bit ‘spoiled’ throughout his career, so needs a good car to deliver.
“Lewis has always only driven the best cars,” Surer told Motorsport-Total. “That means if the car doesn’t do what Lewis wants, then he has a problem. And that’s exactly how it is at the moment… Russell can live with compromises, just like [Fernando] Alonso.
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“These are the kind of people who can just adapt to the car, Lewis can’t. But remember at the end of last year, when the car got better, the old Lewis was suddenly back again.”
Surer added: “That’s exactly his weakness. Maybe he’s just spoiled. He’s always been in the best team in Formula 3 and Formula 2. That means it’s completely normal for him that the car behaves exactly the way he wants it to. If he has to fight with the car, then he loses.”
Russell graduated to Formula 1 with Williams in 2019 after winning the Formula 2 title with ART. But the Grove squad were the worst team on the grid and only scored one point during that season. Williams also stayed the worst team until Russell’s final year with them in 2021.
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