Former F1 driver Karun Chandhok finds Lewis Hamilton’s self-deprecation this season ‘really weird’ and feels its something he will have to overcome when he joins Ferrari next year.
The 2024 season was always going to be a strange year for Hamilton after his impending move to Ferrari was announced.
There was going to come a time where he would be left out of vital team meetings regarding Mercedes’ progression towards 2025.
Hamilton was still finding good race pace and picked up two wins in the summer, including a memorable victory at the British Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton will move to Ferrari in 2025REUTERS
However, he’s struggled for one-lap pace with George Russell outperforming him in qualifying.
Chandhok, who made 11 entries in his F1 career, feels Hamilton is simply running low on self-confidence.
But the 40-year-old feels Hamilton won’t have to worry too much about his one-lap pace at Ferrari so long as he can help them win a championship.
He told Betway: “He’s clearly struggling for confidence over the one lap. His score with George, including Sprint sessions is 20-6 on the qualifying scores.
“For a guy with over 100 pole positions, it’s a real surprise. But you listen to Lewis speak afterwards and he says things such as ‘I’m just not good at qualifying’ and ‘I just can’t qualify’, it’s really weird.
can’t qualify’, it’s really weird.”I think he is low on confidence and for whatever reason, I genuinely think he doesn’t know where the qualifying performances have gone.
“But from Ferrari’s perspective ultimately, I don’t think they have hired Lewis for speed. They have Charles Leclerc for speed. They hired Lewis because he knows how to win a World Championship.
“He will bring them experience and the knowledge of how to put a season campaign together.
Lewis Hamilton has been beaten by George Russell in most qualifying sessions this year
REUTERS
“In terms of speed, I still believe Charles Leclerc is the best qualifier on the grid.
“In terms of out and out one lap pace, he is the fastest driver in F1 today.
“They’ve got speed but what they haven’t had is a driver who has won a World Championship, and I think that is what they have hired him for.
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“For Lewis, it is something he will have to work on though because in 2025, it’s going to be super close and if he is two or three tenths away from Charles, you could end up P6 or P7 on the grid and all of a sudden, your race is completely different.
“I’m sure it’s weighing on his mind but I don’t think Lewis needs people to tell him where he needs to improve, he knows within himself where he needs to improve and you can see the body language.”