Lewis Hamilton & Co. Slapped With Another Headache as George Russell’s Minor Inconvenience Exposes Concerning Issues

Mercedes came to the Formula 1 grid in 2010 as a full-fledged team and while it took a few years to warm up, the new regulations introduced in 2014 changed the course of history as the Brixworth outfit won a whooping eight titles back-to-back. However, the troubles for Lewis Hamilton and co. began looming in the sky post the 2022 regulations and now it has just been a string of underwhelming shows and bad luck. The most recent rendezvous with misfortune happened with George Russell at Albert Park. And now the aftermath may see Silver Arrows in trouble.

We saw George Russell massively benefiting from safety car situations in 2022, and it seemed like Lewis Hamilton was always at the losing end of that fateful game. However, the situation saw a complete reversal when a safety car, subsequent Red Flag, dented Russell’s GP win hopes. However, what unfolded later ruined his hopes to win the second Grand Prix of his career. His car blew up in flames and we saw a reliability issue with the Silver Arrows for the first time in months. But do they even know what happened?

Roberto Chinchero of Motorsport highlights this issue very well. He wrote, “The power unit that forced George Russell to retire from the Australian Grand Prix will be replaced. From the analyses underway at the Mercedes headquarters in Brixworth it emerged that it was a cylinder that gave way, but the reason for the failure has not yet been identified. Russell will use the second power unit over the Baku weekend, so he won’t be subject to penalties, but there are some concerns about reliability.” [Translated using Google]

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If we are to believe the analysis, that reliability is a concern, then the third power unit may not seem very far, and opting for a third one may invite a Charles Leclerc-like penalty. But can this bad spell see Hamilton bid adieu to the team?

Can Lewis Hamilton shift bases amidst Mercedes’ rising troubles?

“Everyone is a Ferrari fan. even if they say they are not, they are Ferrari fans,” this iconic quote by Sebastian Vettel will stay in the history books displaying the rich legacy of the team. And this rich legacy is perhaps why the grapevine is ripe about Hamilton wanting to shift bases to the Scarlet team. Can he follow in Ayrton Senna’s footsteps?

Former Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger, in a recent interview with Kronen Zeitung said, “Every driver wants to drive for Ferrari at least once. And almost all good drivers have done that. Senna just didn’t go to the Scuderia, because he knew: I can never win there. It may be that Lewis feels the same way. If he doesn’t get a competitive car at Mercedes, if he doesn’t see a place at Red Bull Racing, he might think: I don’t want to stop yet, I want to give Ferrari another try. Maybe I can fix it.” [Translated using Google]

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Do you see the Lewis move happening? Will he leave the troubled Silver Arrows to find a new base at Maranello?