Has Lewis Hamilton lost his F1 edge?

When Lewis Hamilton spoke to the media following his fourth place in Montreal, he was unequivocal about the performance.

Having missed out on the final spot on the podium to his Mercedes team-mate, George Russell, Hamilton delivered his damning assessment of the weekend.

“Over the weekend, it was a really poor performance from myself”, he said before adding, it was “just one of the worst races I have driven, lots of mistakes”.

Given it had been his best result of the year, his words were at odds with what a lot of people were thinking.

He was upset and his self-criticism comes at a point where he finds himself trailing 8-1 in the inter-team battle with Russell in the qualifying head-to-head, a seemingly unthinkable statistic given his success in the sport.

Then there were his comments in Monaco where he suggested he would not be able to out-qualify Russell at all this year in what was another staggering statement.

He made a further remark about Russell getting the upgrade ahead of him in Monaco, although it later emerged Hamilton had given his full blessing to his team-mate getting the wing first.

All things considered, as he sits in eighth place in the championship behind Russell and is still without a win since 5 December 2021, it looks as though his final season with Mercedes will fizzle out and conclude without the fanfare it so deserves before he joins Ferrari.
So what has gone wrong?

Has he taken his eye off the ball since agreeing the move to Ferrari?

This is a quick answer to the problem he finds himself in however, those close to him insist it is not the case.

That said, it is impossible to really know just how much signing the deal with Ferrari so early in the year is impacting his performances and emotions.

Could there even be a subliminal aspect? For it is only human nature to shift our focus when we know there is a severance looming.

He is now winless for over 900 days and has admitted his decision to join Ferrari will provide a much-needed boost for his motivation, which may have been depleted after driving a succession of dud Mercedes.

Maybe he is already dreaming of what it will feel like to be challenging for wins again in 2025 and simply wants this year done and dusted?

Is there still a hangover from Abu Dhabi 2021?

The impact of that infamous race and the subsequent paths in opposite directions for Hamilton and Max…