Nico Hulkenberg has insisted that Lewis Hamilton is “still going great” despite the “weak moment” that he experienced at Mercedes in the 2024 Formula 1 season.
Hamilton endured a challenging last year with Mercedes before ending his illustrious association with the team to make a much-anticipated move to Ferrari in 2025.
The Briton ended up seventh in the Drivers’ Championship, 22 points behind then team-mate George Russell, who out-qualified his compatriot 19 times in 24 rounds.
Mercedes explained how Hamilton’s late-braking approach, coupled with a capricious W15, wasn’t suited to the current ground effect cars and 18-inch Pirelli wheels.
Hamilton’s struggles reached a head in Qatar when a four-tenth gap to Russell prompted F1’s record pole position holder to question whether he still had the speed.
“I’m just slow, same every weekend,” he rued. “The car felt relatively decent. No issues. Not really much more to say.”
Pushed to expand more, he added: “Who knows? I’m definitely not fast anymore.”
However, Hulkenberg believes that Hamilton’s downbeat comments were a natural reaction to the frustration that had been building up throughout the campaign.
The German, the third oldest driver on the grid behind Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, thinks it would be a mistake to write off the seven-time F1 champion at Ferrari.
“It is just about timing, and I think he had a weak moment to be honest,” Hulkenberg told RacingNews365.
“He was disappointed after a poor qualifying, and obviously I don’t know the details [from Mercedes], but he was up against George who is a very fast and complete driver already.
“He’s put in some really strong performances and has good momentum, so as a driver, even when you are as experienced as Lewis, it can get to you and annoy you as well.
“We all want to challenge and beat our team-mates, but you saw in Las Vegas how good Lewis is, he came from P10 to [P2] and you should never discount him.
“He’s still going great.”
Hamilton ‘underestimated’ Mercedes departure
Hamilton has conceded that he “underestimated” how tough it would be to conduct a season with Mercedes knowing that his prospects rest elsewhere at Ferrari.
“The first meeting with Toto [Wolff, Mercedes Team Principal] at the beginning of the year was awkward, of course,” he said to media including Motorsport Week.
“So it was awkward from the get-go to the day after when I took some of the team paintballing and they had just found out.
“So, I mean, there has been very loads of moments through the year.
“I think ultimately I definitely I anticipated it would be difficult, but massively underestimated how difficult it would be.”
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