Lewis Hamilton’s tech knowhow questioned amid early Mercedes W15 difficulties

We may have reached the first non-race weekend of F1 2024, but fear not, there are plenty of key headlines to bring you up to speed with.

And arguably the main talking point focuses on Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton’s understanding of what the W15 needs in order to be improved called into question after a difficult start to the season. Let us take a closer look at this and much more

The early stages of F1 2024 have shown though that a lot of work needs to be done if they are to rise to that challenge, Red Bull having stormed out of the blocks as still F1’s dominant force, with Ferrari providing the closest competition.

It has led Ex-F1 technical director Gary Anderson to suggest Mercedes “are still fooling themselves” with their approach to a race weekend, while he has questioned Hamilton’s thinking on what will make for a fast F1 ground-effect car.

George Russell talks ‘funny’ driver scramble to replace Lewis Hamilton
F1 2024 marks Hamilton’s final season with Mercedes, the team he has raced for since 2013 and with whom he has won six of his seven World Championship titles. Come 2025, he will be a Ferrari driver.

READ MORE:Lewis Hamilton opens up on Saudi Arabian GP struggles with W15

That means there is a major void to fill at Mercedes, a vacancy which Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell has revealed is generating a lot of interest from other drivers, with calls and messages even getting sent his way.

Pat McAfee’s controversial Max ‘Vanderstoppen’ F1 dominance criticism
For all drivers the task of stopping Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is proving too hot to handle, the three-time World Champion having started his pursuit of a fourth in succession with back-to-back Bahrain and Saudi Arabia victories.

The entertainment value impact naturally is discussed amidst such extreme one-driver dominance, though ESPN, who pay up to a reported $90 million a year to broadcast F1 in the United States, will likely be concerned to have heard Pat McAfee on their network call the series “so boring” in the Verstappen era, while also mispronouncing his name.