“I Don’t Know if I’m Dealing With It That Great”: Dejected Lewis Hamilton Blames-Self for Toto Wolff & Co.’s Struggles as George Russell Continues to Outshine

It took everything in Lewis Hamilton to bet on Mercedes and make a comeback on the track after Abu Dhabi 2021. He has been very open about his mental health struggles with the whole Michael Masi fiasco. And while things have looked better for him in his personal space (mental health journey) the car continues to make him struggle to date. Amid no signs of improvement, Hamilton, who is always a very positive man, might have caved into self-doubt.

Lewis Hamilton, who is an eight-time pole sitter at the Australian Grand Prix, will be starting 11th tomorrow. And after more than 2 years of not winning a race with only one glitch of a pole, the SEVEN-TIME WORLD Champion ought to feel unsettled now. And he is.

When asked about his Q2 knockout, instead of blaming the externals, he gave a gloomy and introspective answer. He said, “I don’t know if I’m dealing with it that great, less consistent than George. George is doing a better job with our car, three qualifying in a row that he’s out-qualified me and he seems to get on along better than I do, so… yeah. Just trying to keep my head above water and continue to, realizing that it could be way worse.”

And one after another, Hamilton kept dropping truth bombs in the interview.

“Messes with the mind”: Lewis Hamilton opens up about his struggles with W15

After being brutally knocked out in Q2 at Albert Park, the Mercedes star began dropping truth bombs. From accepting his shortcomings to blaming the car’s moody nature to saying the swing in performance hasn’t been good for his mind.

During the post-quali interview, Hamilton said, “It felt great in P3. It was strange because we were right there with these guys and we didn’t really understand why. But then going into qualifying, it’s just another inconsistency within the car, it really messes with the mind.”

He further added, “I think our car is on a bit of a knife edge. In the afternoon here the wind picks up, the same as P2. P1 was a bit better and then when the wind picks up, the car becomes a lot more unstable. And then this morning was nice with calmer wind, and then as soon as the wind picks up it gets a little bit less stable.”

READ MORE: Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes Engineers Convene at the End of Australia GP Practice

Do you think it is Lewis Hamilton’s fault that he hasn’t been able to achieve much with the new creation?