Lewis Hamilton F1 News: Frustrations blamed on Daniel Ricciardo problem

Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo, 2024, Social — Photo: © IMAGO

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Hamilton frustrations BLAMED on Ricciardo problem

Lewis Hamilton has been compared to Daniel Ricciardo amid the Mercedes star's struggles

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Saturday 9 November 2024 21:55

A shock comparison to Daniel Ricciardo has been made amid Lewis Hamilton’s current Formula 1 struggles.

The Australian star was axed from F1 after the Singapore GP following a series of poor performances for VCARB, with his decline traced back to his departure from Red Bull.

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Ricciardo was replaced by Liam Lawson, the latest of a crop of young drivers being given a chance to prove their talent in F1.

Mercedes have also opted for youth in their 2025 lineup, with Kimi Antonelli replacing Lewis Hamilton, who will join Ferrari next season.

Daniel Ricciardo was axed from F1 after the Singapore GP

Lewis Hamilton has struggled in his final season with Mercedes

Will Lewis Hamilton recover from his performance decline?

The seven-time world champion has struggled in his final season with Mercedes, and has been unable to overcome their performance issues in recent races.

However, former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestly believes there is cause for concern over Hamilton’s performances, and has even compared his issues to the decline of Ricciardo.

"I mean Lewis Hamilton, what on earth happened to Lewis Hamilton?," Priestly said via his YouTube channel.

"Somebody asked me earlier, why has Lewis Hamilton gone off the boil and I honestly think this is a similar type of situation to the likes of Daniel Ricciardo in recent times, Checo Perez.

"I don’t think Daniel Ricciardo, Checo Perez or Lewis Hamilton have suddenly become bad drivers.

"I think the modern generation of cars are so specific, they’re so nuanced in the way that you get the performance out of them and in the case of those three drivers, it’s not suiting the driving style that they’re so used to, that’s ingrained within them that they have built their careers around.

Will Lewis Hamilton return to his race winning ways when he joins Ferrari?

"These cars require something very specific, both from a technical point of view when it comes to setting them up really low and stiff, but also in the way that you drive them and it’s not suiting those guys.

"They’re struggling to get the tyre temperature into the tyres and as soon as you don’t get that, as soon as you fall out of that window, the performance disappears.

"And when the performance disappears, you struggle to get tyre temperature back in and it’s this vicious cycle that you can’t get out of very easily.

"That’s what I think is happening to Lewis."

Written by

Sheona Mountford - F1 Journalist

Sheona Mountford is a motorsport journalist specialising in F1. As a writer and contributor, she covers a wide range of motorsport series from F1 to F1 Academy, responsible for breaking news, live race coverage and in depth analysis of the sport and the culture around it.

View full biography

Red Bull Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Daniel Ricciardo VCARB