What makes a great Formula 1 champion? Is it experience? Or is it pure pace? Well, in all honesty, it takes a bit of both and then a pinch of luck, too. At 38 years of age, 7x champion, Lewis Hamilton has had all these ingredients. Yet, at the very last hurdle, that being that elusive eighth world championship title, the Brit seems to have fallen short. Many blame this on Mercedes dropping the ball with the 2022 regulation reset. But is that it?

Hamilton has been the benchmark in Formula 1 for a long, long time now. That being said, the established pecking order has changed a lot since Red Bull and Max Verstappen arrived on the scene in 2021. Be that as it may, you’d expect the Brit to count on his experience of winning 7 world titles to propel him to his eighth. However, in reality, Hamilton may be suffering from a far graver problem than just a bad car.

Lewis Hamilton has been given a fatal reality check

Lewis Hamilton knows what it’s like to be winning in F1 and not winning, too. Hence, it’s safe to say that he has the caliber and the experience. But is there something massive missing from the driver Hamilton was in the hay days of Mercedes?

During a recent episode of the Lift the Lid podcast, host Billy Monger opined, “Lewis Hamilton has in his career dealt with an understeery car, an oversteery car. There would’ve been factors that he would’ve dealt with many times in his career and learned to adapt his driving style to suit.”

“But it seems like at the minute, I sense a bit of frustration. He just feels disconnected and that he can’t quite get it right with the understeery car, can’t quite get it right with the oversteer.” 

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The balance of the car may be one aspect Hamilton’s been suffering from. But there is yet another peculiar predicament haunting the 7x champion this year.

Hamilton’s bizarre Mercedes problem

Formula 1 cars aren’t really built for comfort. They are built to go fast. But oftentimes, the quantum of comfort cannot be pushed so far as to really disadvantage the driver. Then, in all probability, he will not be able to extract the maximum from the car itself. This is exactly what has been gnawing at the British racing ace.

He was quoted by Crash.net as saying, “I don’t know if people know, but we sit closer to the front wheels than all the other drivers. Our cockpit is too close to the front. When you’re driving, you feel like you’re sitting on the front wheels, which is one of the worst feelings to feel when you’re driving a car.”

“What that does is it really changes the attitude of the car and how you perceive its movement. And it makes it harder to predict compared to when you’re further back and sitting more centered.”

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Will Lewis Hamilton be able to get his hands on that elusive 8th championship?