James Allison Lays Blame on Strange Factor for Lewis Hamilton’s Poor Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton is 8-1 down in qualifying to teammate George Russell in 2024. This statistic, coupled with the 7-time champion hinting at a bias within Mercedes at the Monaco GP, has led fans to suspect something fishy in Mercedes. The ‘sabotage’ theories after the Canadian GP arose from the excessive build-up of such emotions. However, Mercedes’ Technical Director has peculiarly held the sport itself accountable for Hamilton’s woes.

The Mercedes drivers ended 2023 with the same intra-team qualifying triumphs: 11-11. But the turnaround in 2024 has been shocking. Canadian GP saw an unusual performance gap as Russell topped qualifying and Hamilton secured a lowly P7. Countering bias allegations, Team Principal Toto Wolff emphasized how the Brackley outfit ensures ‘fairness’ to both drivers. His technical right-hand man James Allison’s revelation, however, is unprecedented.

“I wouldn’t have predicted 8-1,” Allison said on the Beyond the Grid podcast. “For a chunk of the year, the car has been a pretty troubled beast. It’s become a much, much better car in the last two or three races. With that, the judgments of who may or may not put it in front of the other car become more meaningful because the car is less of a random number generator,” he added.

The Briton also described how Hamilton has been the “best qualifier” and the “best driver” in the sport. Yet, his struggles are plenty and can be attributed to the modern F1 cars, according to Allison. “I think, to a degree, I was speculating this in an email I sent to the factory yesterday, that the current car-tire combo, not just us, across the pit lane, it doesn’t like being hustled,” he explained, adding, “You almost get the best lap times when you are not trying. Every weekend, you’ll see someone pop a lap time in free practice or qualifying. You’ll see some car and think ‘How did that get there?’ And then they don’t do it again.”

If Allison’s speculations are seconded by other technical personnel across teams, Hamilton’s qualifying deficit could be justified. If not, and the 7-time champion is just struggling, what happens when he teams up with the best qualifier on the grid in 2025?

Lewis Hamilton’s qualifying woes might continue into his Ferrari stint

Charles Leclerc has been the only driver to match and exceed Max Verstappen’s qualifying runs in the last two years. Even when the Ferrari under him hasn’t been the fastest car, he has secured Pole position. Comparatively, Lewis Hamilton‘s current teammate is not as close to that level of consistency and pace. This leads BBC’s Andrew Benson to believe the size of the task Hamilton faces in 2025 “should not be underestimated.”

“Leclerc is incredibly fast,” Benson wrote in his BBC Q&A column after listing the cultural barriers Hamilton might face at Ferrari. “Many people in F1 think he might even be the fastest driver in the sport over one lap. So out-qualifying him will not be easy,” he concluded. Hamilton has won the Spanish GP 6 times, tied with Michael Schumacher for the most wins in Barcelona. From the current grid, Max Verstappen is the closest to him with 3 wins, inching towards a 4th.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, what do you think the 7-time champion can do in Spain to make a comeback? Share your thoughts in the comments.