Pressure Mounts on Lewis Hamilton as “Motivation” Gets Questioned After Years of Success

With a century of wins, 7 titles, and countless other victorious moments, the legend of Lewis Hamilton is firmly solidified in the annals of Formula 1 history. That being said, the past two years have been the most difficult of the 7x champion’s illustrious career. In 2022, with the regulation reset, Mercedes finally dropped the ball as they fell backward. But 2023 came with a reignited hope of making their way back to the top. Alas, if the first two races are anything to go by, Mercedes’ path back to glory is a long, long one.

But what about Hamilton? The 38-year-old has arguably stepped into the twilight years of his glistening F1 journey. Regardless, there’s still just that one thing left to tick off; that elusive eight title. Be that as it may, with the way Mercedes has been going, his wait for the 8th seems to be a long one. According to ex-Ferrari manager Peter Windsor, this is exactly why the Silver Arrows’ lack of pace is the biggest test of character the Brit has had to face in his entire life.

On his YouTube channel, Windsor said, “Now is the moment, I keep saying it you know, Lewis has got to dig unbelievably deep now to keep his motivation and to be the racer that he is. And its sad actually, I think, it’s a waste to see a driver with that quality putting in the inputs that he has into his driving and not getting a result.”

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But a tricky W14 isn’t the only thing Hamilton has had to deal with this season. Comparison’s between him and his teammate, George Russell, are at an all-time high.

Time for Lewis Hamilton to accept defeat by George Russell

The pressure that Hamilton has had to face from the media has been immense. With parallels drawn between the duo of Hamilton and George Russell, it has only amplified the pressure. But per Windsor, there’s a good reason behind it.

He believes, “In a way, this is worse than last year from his point of view, because last year was the shock of the car, the porpoising, how difficult it was to drive and that was a sort of universal thing. But now, you’ve got George kinda getting the best from the car. The car’s not porpoising anymore. It’s not as physically difficult to drive as it was last year.”

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Is Lewis Hamilton really done for in this sport?