BREAKING: Lewis Hamilton set for daunting return after summer break as Damon Hill sheds… Full Story👇
Lewis Hamilton set for daunting return after summer break as Damon Hill sheds… Full Story👇
Damon Hill has raised concerns about the sustainability of Lewis Hamilton’s recent resurgence in form, especially as the Mercedes driver prepares for the second half of the 2024 Formula 1 season. Hamilton’s recent performances have been impressive, but Hill believes that as Hamilton’s move to Ferrari in 2025 draws nearer, Mercedes may start to limit the information shared with him, potentially affecting his competitiveness.
The 2024 season has been a tale of two halves for Hamilton. The early part of the year was challenging, with the seven-time world champion struggling to adapt to the new ground-effect F1 cars. In his first eight races, Hamilton failed to secure a top-five finish, leading to speculation about whether he could still compete at the highest level. However, a turning point came at the Canadian Grand Prix, where Hamilton began to show signs of his old form.
This improvement continued with a podium finish in Spain, followed by a historic win at the British Grand Prix, where Hamilton became the first driver to win at the same circuit nine times. He then continued his strong form with a solid finish in Hungary, where he was the best of the rest behind the dominant McLarens. Hamilton capped off the first half of the season with another victory in Belgium after his teammate George Russell was disqualified.
Despite these successes, Hill believes that Hamilton’s momentum may be interrupted as Mercedes looks to protect its intellectual property ahead of his move to Ferrari. Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Hill suggested that Mercedes will need to be cautious about the information it shares with Hamilton as his departure nears. “I think it’s got to [impact Hamilton’s form], hasn’t it? I mean he’s got to be excluded from conversations to do with whatever’s coming for next year,” Hill said.
He explained that Mercedes would be wary of Hamilton taking any strategic or technical insights with him to Ferrari. “They don’t want to show any insights that he might take to Ferrari particularly, so it may be he’s deprived of a little bit more information than he’s liked in the past,” Hill added. Despite this, Hill acknowledged that Mercedes and its team principal Toto Wolff are likely to treat Hamilton fairly, given their honorable reputation. However, he noted that there are limits to how much a team can share with a driver who is leaving.
Hill also pointed out that while drivers are not usually privy to all the technical details within a team, they could still potentially carry valuable knowledge to their new teams. “Drivers can go from day one to the next team the moment their contract has expired. The trouble is drivers are not necessarily privy to all of the technical things that happen,” Hill explained. He added that the complex nature of F1 technology means that even drivers may not fully grasp all the intricacies, which are often understood only by specialized engineers.
As Hamilton prepares for the remainder of the season, the question remains whether he can maintain his strong form in the face of these potential challenges. Mercedes will need to balance its competitive instincts with the need to protect its future interests, making the latter half of the season a potentially tricky period for both Hamilton and the team.
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