Lewis Hamilton is famed for his qualifying prowess but George Russell has firmly had the upper hand in the intra-team battle so far this year, going faster than his team-mate eight times out of nine
James Allison has offered a reason why Lewis Hamilton is struggling to out-qualify team-mate George Russell as the Mercedes chief admitted his surprise at the current situation.
In the intra-team battle for supremacy, Saturdays have been a rather one-sided affair. Of the nine Grand Prix qualifying sessions held so far this year, Hamilton has gone faster than Russell on only one occasion.
It’s an especially surprising statistic for someone whose qualifying prowess is legendary. Hamilton is responsible for some of the greatest single-lap efforts in F1’s modern history, perhaps most notable being his pole lap at the 2018 Singapore Grand Prix.
But Saturdays have been a struggle so far this year with another temperamental Mercedes car. And technical director Allison has offered his theory as to why the seven-time F1 champion is finding it difficult to get the most out of the W15 over one lap.
Asked about the situation on the Beyond The Grid podcast, he said: “I wouldn’t have predicted 8-1 and I think that for a chunk of the year, the car has been a pretty troubled beast. It’s become a much, much better car in the last two or three races.
“With that, I think the judgments about who may or may not put it in front of the other car become more meaningful, because the car is less of a random number generator. Lewis has, not by accident, been the best qualifier in the history of the sport, because I think he’s been the best driver in the sport, but he’s struggling to make it stick this year by fine margins, as you say.
“I think, to a degree, I was speculating this in an email I sent to the factory yesterday that the current car-tyre combo, not just us, across the pit lane, it doesn’t like being hustled – you almost get the best lap times when you’re not trying.
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