For Lewis Hamilton, not a right one has gone since lap 58 of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021. After years of dominating far and wide, 2022 was for the seven-time world champion his worst year since he's been in Formula 1.
The missed victory
Beaten by teammate Russell, debuting with Mercedes. It had already happened with Rosberg in 2016, but for a handful of points, and with Button in McLaren in 2011, a very complicated year for Hamilton also off the track. No wins and no pole positions for the first time in his career. At first he came close in Hungary, when a DRS problem had relegated him to seventh on the day when teammate Russell earned his first start at the post. At the second he approached Austin, when with Russell penalized, Sainz out of contention, Leclerc forced to comeback and Verstappen slowed down by a mistake at the pitstop, everything seemed done for victory number 104. However, the Dutchman and his Red Bull had managed to get back into the W13 exhausts and win the race.
Particular vintage
The first part of the season was by far the most difficult, due to his role as a "guinea pig" in the set-up tests. Suffering, however, paid off: in the second part of the season, excluding the Interlagos weekend, Hamilton performed much better than his teammate and the W13 improved also and above all thanks to his work. Despite a complicated year, therefore, the ace from Stevenage has shown that he still knows how to do it and that he can fight on equal terms with any driver on the grid. It will be highly unlikely that Mercedes, a team capable of winning eight of the last nine constructors' championships, will get it wrong two years in a row.
Lewis is hoping for the W14
In Formula 1, you know, the car matters more than the driver: Also the most successful always goes into crisis with a car not up to the first. Hoping the W14 is a better car than its predecessor, Hamilton still has hunger for victories and titles and he doesn't want to leave the Circus without (re)taking the eighth laurel.