Mercedes believes that Lewis Hamilton’s disappointing performance in the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix can be traced back to his limited adjustments to the W15 car’s setup after the Sprint race. Hamilton, who has had a challenging year, struggled again in Qatar, qualifying sixth and finishing a distant 12th after incurring penalties for a false start and speeding in the pit lane. During the race, Hamilton even questioned whether his car was broken, and later requested to retire from the race, a request denied by the team.
Hamilton has had a difficult season general, often being outperformed in qualifying by his teammate, George Russell. Despite this, Hamilton had earlier returned to winning form at Silverstone and Spa, but his struggles in Qatar marked a new low. The seven-time world champion, who has announced that he will join Ferrari in 2025, has faced challenges with Mercedes’ underperforming machinery. He has frequently experimented with car setups throughout the season, trying to find a breakthrough with the team.
In Mercedes’ post-race debrief, Andrew Shovlin, the trackside engineering director, suggested that Hamilton’s lack of setup changes after the Sprint race may have contributed to his poor performance. The relaxation of parc ferme regulations allowed teams to adjust the car setup between the Sprint and the main race. Shovlin explained that while George Russell made only minor adjustments, Hamilton’s car remained underbalanced, meaning it had too much understeer. The track’s increasing grip typically leads to more understeer, and teams usually compensate by adding a front wing, but the adjustments were not enough to address Hamilton’s issues.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff also speculated that Hamilton’s driving style, which relies heavily on late braking and attacking corners, may not be well-suited to the current ground-effect cars, which struggle with stability and grip. Wolff noted that while this issue affects all teams to some degree, Hamilton might suffer more due to his unique driving style. He pointed out that the W15 car’s sensitivity to track conditions and grip levels contributed to unpredictable performance, further complicating Hamilton’s efforts to find consistent results.