This season will go down as one of my worst, says Hamilton. How does the seven-time champion rate Mercedes’ performance this year?

Lewis Hamilton has had a less than glittering 2022 season, failing to score a single win and also being beaten by his teammate George Russell in the final drivers’ championship showdown. Even so, the seven-time world champion denies that this was his worst season in F1, so how does he assess this year from his perspective?

Nine podiums, 240 points, a final sixth place in the drivers’ championship and, above all, no wins – that was the seven-time world champion’s season. Hamilton’s best race result this year was therefore second place, which he achieved in five Grands Prix.

It was the first time in his career as an F1 driver that he had not scored a single victory in a given season, the closest he has probably come was at the Interlagos circuit in Brazil.

However, it was in the penultimate race of the season that he failed to match the pace of Russell, who achieved his first career win, Mercedes recorded a double in Brazil.

Despite the disappointing results, the major struggles with the Mercedes car this year, especially in the first half of this season, and despite the loss against his teammate, Hamilton denies that he has had the worst season of his Formula One career.

Hamilton’s statement

“I think 2011 was probably the hardest year I’ve had, just in terms of… Well, just in life. This year has not been the best and will rank among my top 3 worst seasons,” Hamilton said in an interview with Racing News 365.

But the first half of the season in particular has not been good overall for Mercedes. The team didn’t hit the new era F1 car concept at first, and thus the German team had a lot of catching up to do as the season progressed.

In the end, however, Mercedes picked up very solidly and in the last three races its drivers set times comparable to, or even better than, Ferrari and Red Bull.

In the end, Hamilton and co. did not have as good a year as the last one (Red Bull won the Constructors’ Cup and broke Mercedes’ eight-year hegemony), but the 37-year-old experienced driver still sees it positively.

“I think we’ve had a much stronger year, at least as far as I’m concerned. In terms of how I worked with the team and how we all stayed united. So I think that this year has been mainly a positive for us,” Hamilton concluded.

F1, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1, Racing News 365