Lewis Hamilton compares Mercedes struggles to issues with 'worst car I’ve had' in 2009

Updated 05/05/2022 at 16:39 GMT

Lewis Hamilton has had a tough start to life in the 2022 Formula 1 season. He took third in the opening race of the season, but that did not disguise the lack of pace in his Mercedes car. He has written off his hopes of winning the title and compared his struggles to what he went through at McLaren in 2009.

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Lewis Hamilton has compared his struggles at the start of the 2022 season to what he went through in 2009.

The seven-time champion finds himself well off the pace set by Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, with Hamilton on 28 points - 58 behind the Monegasque.

Hamilton’s struggles are down to his Mercedes car being well behind the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull in terms of pace - and it mirrors what he went through at McLaren in 2009.

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Like the current campaign, Hamilton went into the 2009 season on the back of an excellent previous season.

While last term he was denied the title in controversial circumstances, with Max Verstappen pipping him to the drivers’ championship on the last lap of the final race in Abu Dhabi, in 2009 Hamilton went into the season as champion.

In 2009, McLaren struggled to come to terms with new regulations - and it is a similar scenario for Mercedes in 2022.

"There are people that watch and say I’ve never had a bad car, and I can assure you that I have,” Hamilton told the Race. "2009’s car was very, very far off - the worst car that I’ve had. This car currently is not far off that experience."

McLaren worked through their issues and finished the 2009 season extremely strongly - with Hamilton winning two of the final eight races.

Hamilton will hope Mercedes can find the key to their lack of competitiveness as the season progresses.

The 37-year-old has already written off his chances of an eighth world championship this term, and it remains to be seen whether there is any improvement in the Mercedes car at this week’s Miami Grand Prix.

Hamilton suffered the ignominy of being lapped by Verstappen at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on April 24.

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