After having been out-qualified by Mercedes teammate George Russell for the seventh time this season in Monaco, Lewis Hamilton made some shocking remarks to the press. The 39-year-old’s comments seemed to suggest that the Mercedes camp is divided ever since he announced that he would be moving to Ferrari next year. While the loyalties may have shifted in the Brackley team, Hamilton’s former physiotherapist, Angela Cullen, has sent her best wishes to the seven-time champion ahead of his race in Monaco.
Cullen took to Instagram and wrote, “Race day: Monico GP, Indy500 @lewishamilton @marcusarmstrong”. Although Cullen’s post is short, it is enough to suggest that she is continuing to back Hamilton despite no longer being in his corner.
Hamilton has had a rough start to the 2024 season as Russell has outperformed him convincingly so far. Even in this weekend’s Monaco GP so far, Russell out-qualified Hamilton as he set the fifth-fastest lap time during qualifying, while the 39-year-old only managed to take only seventh on the grid.
This weekend’s Monaco GP marked the seventh time Russell has managed to out-qualify Hamilton this season. Since Russell has consistently got the better of Hamilton so far, some experts suggested at the start of the season that the latter is perhaps already thinking about his Ferrari move and is not in the right mindset to deliver for Mercedes this year.
However, Hamilton’s recent remarks seem to suggest that it is the Mercedes team that have seemingly sidelined him, knowing that he will move to Maranello next year.
Lewis Hamilton does not expect to out-qualify George Russell in 2024
With 104 pole positions to his name, Lewis Hamilton has undoubtedly been one of F1’s best qualifiers. However, his performances in 2024 have been nothing short of disappointing. And to make things worse for his fans, the 39-year-old does not expect that his qualifying performances will get any better.
Instead, he believes that George Russell will out-qualify him for most of the 2024 campaign. When asked about the same in an interview with Sky Sports, he said, “I don’t anticipate being ahead of George in qualifying this year”.
When pressed to explain why he thought so, Hamilton shrugged with a smile and added, “We’ll see”. Ever since the 39-year-old made such remarks to the press, his fans have begun to worry about the mood in the Mercedes camp.
Fans have now begun to raise concerns about whether the Silver Arrows have begun to sabotage Hamilton, knowing that the Briton will not be a part of their side after the next few months. If that is indeed the case, Hamilton will be hoping for 2025 to come around as soon as possible and move to a side where he feels welcomed.