“Aggressive” Lewis Hamilton’s Former Teammate Reveals the Reason Behind His Incessant Mercedes Struggles: “He Doesn’t Have That…”

After the P2 finish in Australia, Lewis Hamilton congratulated the team and thanked them for the hard work they put in. However, before the start of the race weekend, he was far from happy with the way the car felt. The Briton pointed out a major flaw in the W14 that no other car on the current grid is facing. His former teammate has analyzed the issue and given his two cents on why that shortcoming is not so short after all.

Ahead of the practice sessions on Friday, Hamilton on Thursday talked about the peculiar seating position in the W14. He said that he sat too far ahead, almost extending over to the front wheels. That, according to him, deprived him of the feel of the rear of the car, which is mighty important for his aggressive driving style. Later, team boss Toto Wolff took the criticism on his chin and vowed to work to get the issue fixed. 2009 champion Jenson Button also feels the issue is a major one given his former McLaren teammate’s driving style.

Sky Sports recently quoted him as saying, “With Lewis, the way he drives, you know, he’s quite aggressive on the throttle, quite aggressive on the brake and he does everything through the steering wheel, so he really needs to feel what’s happening through the rear of the car through his arms.”

He continued, “And he’s not getting that, so he doesn’t have that confidence to push the car”.

“And these cars are tricky, anyway. They’re always on edge, especially in qualifying. And if he doesn’t have that confidence, he’s not able to get the maximum out of it.”

Read More: Max Verstappen Dons a New Diplomatic Avatar to Shield George Russell’s Sandbagging Allegations

All this while, George Russell has remained indifferent to the seating issue, neither speaking against it nor for it. Button gave his views on that as well.

Why George Russell isn’t too bothered while Lewis Hamilton is

Not too long ago, Hamilton credited Russell’s car set-up for his success in Jeddah. However, he did admit that his fellow Briton seldom got it right over him when it came to their differences of opinion on the car set-up. The W14’s overall set-up, especially the seating position, is perhaps what suits the junior Silver Arrows driver better.

Button further continued, “I think George has a different way of driving. I haven’t seen George’s data. I just know the way Lewis drives because I’ve seen his data and it surprises me how different he drives to me, for example.”

“And if George is a driver that always tries to keep the steering wheel as calm as possible, do everything through the throttle and brakes, manipulating the car that way, he’s probably not going to react so badly with this change to the car.”

Watch This Story: Lewis Hamilton’s Eventful New York Escapade Ft. Selena Gomez, Post Malone & More

Earlier in the season, Hamilton talked about the team ignoring his opinion while developing the car. Could this issue be a result of that? If yes, Mercedes will have to make amends and make them fast.