The "million dollar" question Lewis Hamilton wants to solve as he drops behind George Russell in the championship standings
Lewis Hamilton claims he's willing to give a million dollars to the person who could answer why the Mercedes car continues to be as unpredictable as it is right now. The driver has struggled with unpredictability throughout the season when it comes to extracting performance out of the car.
There have been weekends where the performance has been good and comparable to his teammate George Russell. The race prior to Brazil was such an example. In the next race weekend though, somehow everything fell apart. After outscoring Russell in Mexico and finishing ahead of him, Hamilton had a terrible race weekend in Brazil, where the car was just nowhere for him.
While the race on Sunday saw the Mercedes driver struggling to find his way through the midfield, his teammate was leading the race and would possibly have won if not for the Red Flag timing.
Talking to the media afterward, including Motorsport, on being quizzed about why the Mercedes is so unpredictable every alternative weekend, Lewis Hamilton joked that this was a million-dollar question and he would pay anyone that money if they could answer him why something like this was happening. He said:
“You tell me. That's the million-dollar question. If you can find it, I'll give you a million dollars!”
In a seemingly resigned state, the driver said there was something wrong with the car which the team had not yet figured out. He said:
“We're coming into the weekends, but it's definitely not acceptable. It's definitely not good enough and we have to take accountability. I have to take accountability, but I am doing the best with what I've got. The car has been the worst this weekend and I don't know what it is. We're going to have to find out what it is.”
Lewis Hamilton already looking forward to Christmas
After the race in Brazil, George Russell has now overtaken Lewis Hamilton in the championship standings. Talking to the media after a disappointing race, Hamilton acknowledged that he didn't care where he finished in the championship and in the race as he wasn't battling for the title anyway. Talking about how he was looking forward to Christmas, he said (via Motorsport):
“I just put my focus on something else. I'm not fighting for the championship. Doesn't matter, really, where we finish in the championship. I don't care if I finish ahead of [team-mate] George [Russell] or behind George. It doesn't make any difference to me."
He added:
"I just want to keep the car out the wall and try to score points if I can for the team, if I can finish, whatever. If they give me a car that doesn't bounce off the track in the next few races, then hopefully we can get a better result. But yeah, looking forward to Christmas.”
It will be interesting to see if this is a one-off or if this is something worse. The driver is switching teams in 2025, and it will be interesting to see if that would help him recharge himself for a better overall result.