Ex-F1 driver and 13 times race winner David Coulthard believes Lewis Hamilton getting dominated by George Russell in qualifying might just be a sign of a changing of the guard.
Hamilton has had a mixed season in terms of results, experiencing a few highs but a few lows as well. The Mercedes driver has two wins to his name, but at the same time, he’s had a string of average results as well.
Even in comparison to his teammate in qualifying, Lewis Hamilton has been dominated in what has been a one-sided contest. Russell has scored multiple pole positions this season and leads Lewis 11-4 in qualifying head-to-head.
This was evident even at the F1 Dutch GP, where Hamilton was eliminated in Q2 while George Russell started the race in P4.
Coulthard was questioned by Channel 4 about his views on the disparity between the two, to which the former Red Bull driver said that it was just a sign of a changing of the guard. He said:
“I wish I had an explanation for you. Things that have separated drivers like Lewis from the merely good drivers, it’s an ability to qualify a car, and whatever the conditions are, they usually find a lap time.
“All that’s kind of gone alongside George, and it does therefore feel that it’s a changing of the guard – and I know that will upset a lot of people, because Lewis has still got some brilliant success, I’m sure, ahead of him.”
He continued:
“But I guess it’s like a footballer losing a yard [of pace] at football, they’re still very useful to the team, they’re not as useful as they used to be. So maybe it’s turning out to be the natural transition for Lewis Hamilton to go off to Ferrari, seeking pastures new, for Mercedes to bring in Kimi Antonelli and see if he’s the bright young thing that’s going to push George Russell.”
Lewis Hamilton was buoyed by his performance in the race in Zandvoort, and after the race claimed that he could have fought for the podium if he had started in the same position as George Russell. The Mercedes driver started the race in P14 and made multiple overtakes to finish in P8.
His teammate’s race went in the completely opposite direction as he went from P4 to P7 by the end of the race. Talking to the media, including Sportskeeda, he said:
“I think, ultimately, the car felt better. Even though I had a lot of understeer in [F]P1, the car felt really great and even for [F]P2 and then we made this change overnight because we had so much understeer, and then it just flipped it on its knife edge, it just flipped it onto the other side.”
He continued:
“So we backed up a bunch of wing for the race and I was progressing, I felt like I was moving in the right direction, but just too far back, unfortunately. So I think if I had qualified where George was, I would have finished at least there, if not further ahead. I think we could have been close to the podium.”
The next race on the F1 calendar is in Monza. Lewis Hamilton has won 5 times at the track and will look to continue his run there.
