Hamilton has no understanding of ground-effect cars, says former F1 Director

Gary Anderson, former Technical Director for numerous Formula 1 teams, believes that Lewis Hamilton doesn’t understand what is required to make a fast car with the current regulations.

The successful race car designer worked with the likes of Jordan, Stewart and Jaguar during his career as a Technical Director.

Mercedes have yet again failed to meet expectations of an improvement at the start of the 2024 campaign, and were the fifth-quickest team on pace at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. George Russell crossed the line in sixth, while teammate Hamilton could only muster ninth position at the flag.

Anderson thinks that Hamilton hasn’t quite understood what it takes to be competitive since the major technical rule changes introduced in 2022, and that this may be holding the team back from battling consistently with the dominant Red Bull outfit.

He said on his column for The Telegraph: “After the race Hamilton said that big changes need to be made to the car. He mentioned that the other teams around them still have different concepts, but Hamilton is talking about what you can see.

“The critical parts on these cars is the underfloor and Hamilton does not know what the other teams are doing there. What you can see is not necessarily what makes the car work.

“He seems to be of the frame of mind that if Mercedes make their car look like a Red Bull it will go as fast as one; it will not. The W15 needs a lot more work than the visual concept but the worry is that they still do not understand what a ground-effect car needs.”

Mercedes’ approach to weekend is all wrong

Ever since the introduction of ground-effect in F1, where downforce is generated by an area of low pressure underneath the car, Mercedes have fallen behind the pack. The Brackley-based outfit dominated when hybrid power units were mandated back in 2014, and won every Constructors’ Title from then until 2021.

2022 saw the team fall to third in the final Standings, while last year saw them finish one place higher but still ending with less than half the points tally of Red Bull.

Anderson believes that Mercedes’ approach to each weekend is indicative of a team struggling to fully grasp the current regulations.

He stated: “Two races in and their performances suggest they are still suffering from an inability to overcome its limitations. It feels like a repeat of 2022 and 2023.

“The team need to be realistic about their car and must wake up to the reality that they have a problem.

The former Technical Director explains his views: “In some ways they are still fooling themselves and this goes down to how they approach the weekend. Throughout Bahrain and Saudi Arabia they have looked competitive in the early practice sessions before dropping back.

“This suggests they are running the car lighter on Friday in order to give themselves confidence. Their rivals push harder as the weekend progresses and Mercedes drop back to their true position.

“They must go back to doing their homework between races in a more effective way than just running their car light on fuel and initially looking and feeling in a good place. They will not learn anything this way, it is just a deceptive and short-lived confidence boost.”

Mercedes will be hoping to improve upon recent performances at the upcoming Australian Grand Prix. The race commences March 24th at 04:00 GMT.

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