Lewis Hamilton defended by Nico Hulkenberg over ‘weak moment’
Lewis Hamilton gets surprise backing from F1 rival Nico Hulkenberg over his qualifying form.
Nico Hulkenberg has come to the defence of Lewis Hamilton over claims he made towards the difficult end of his Mercedes F1 stint.
The seven-time world champion endured a tough final campaign with Mercedes and despite picking up two victories, Hamilton ended the year finishing seventh in the championship - his worst classification in his storied 18-year career.
As well as finishing behind George Russell in the drivers’ standings, he was comprehensively out-qualified by his teammate over the course of the 2024 season.
After a poor qualifying at the penultimate round of the campaign in Qatar, Hamilton declared he is “definitely not fast any more”.
He added: "I'm just slow. Same every weekend. Car felt relatively decent. You know, no issues. Not really much more to say.”
Hamilton backtracked on his comments later in the weekend, insisting he has “still got it” after his qualifying struggles continued.
After qualifying sixth for the main grand prix, five places and nearly half a second behind Russell, Hamilton stated: "Just the car won't go any faster. I definitely know I've got it still. It's not a question in my mind.”
And Hamilton has received backing from new Sauber driver Hulkenberg.
“It is just about timing, and I think he had a weak moment to be honest,” the German 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’s 2024 qualifying woes
Hamilton remains the all-time F1 record holder for pole positions with 104 but has topped qualifying just once since the end of the 2021 season.
The 40-year-old Briton failed to get to grips with Mercedes’ ground-effect car under the current regulation cycle which began in 2022.
Hamilton was consistently outperformed over one lap by Russell throughout 2024 and ended the year with a 5-19 head-to-head defeat to his teammate in qualifying.
Russell became just the second teammate to outqualify Hamilton over an F1 season after Nico Rosberg in 2014.
Hamilton will be hoping to address his one lap form when he starts his Ferrari career this season.
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