Ex-Formula 1 driver Karun Chandhok believes that Lewis Hamilton had little motivation at the start of the 2022 season.
Hamilton suffered a controversial World Championship defeat in 2021 to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen as he attempted to secure a record-breaking eighth title.
Mercedes then entered 2022 with a car that lacked competitiveness and was unable to challenge Red Bull and Ferrari for much of the season.
It endured a difficult opening segment to the campaign before it began to fix its issues through various upgrades.
However, it was still often the third fastest car in the field, which Chandhok states proved to be a dent in Hamilton’s motivation.
“Lewis, at the start of the year, I’m sure his motivation wasn’t there,” Chandhok told Sky Sports F1. “And I can understand that.
“It reminded me of Senna in 1993 [at McLaren], this was a guy who was the number one driver of his generation, he arrives at the opening race and goes ‘God, I’m only capable of qualifying on the third row of the grid.’
“Where’s the motivation? Then we got to Barcelona, they turned a little bit of the corner and he rose to the challenge.”
Hamilton currently has a contract in place until the end of the F1 season and has publicly asserted that he is keen to continue with Mercedes beyond his current deal.
The 37-year-old completed his first year alongside George Russell in 2022, with the latter gaining a promotion to the team after several years with it in a junior role.
Chandhok hailed Russell for his performance against Hamilton and suggested that Hamilton’s motivation was likely lifted by Russell’s competitiveness.
“At the start of the year, it was looking really good for Russell, he was regularly outqualifying Lewis,” he said.
“I think he had a bit of a wake-up call in that middle part of the year when Lewis lifted his game, and I think George went on a run where he couldn’t get ahead. I think he thought ‘woah, I’ve woken the beast!’
“But to his credit, towards the end of the year – and that weekend and win in Brazil was the standout – he came back. I’m fascinated to see how those two are together next year.”
Duh. It wasn’t until the last minute that he was confirmed as a Mercedes driver for 2022. That’s not a sign of a motivated driver.
Chandok, who I like, overall, needs to take that out of his mouth and wipe his chin. Hamilton didn’t lack motivation, Russell beat him because Russell is better.