The start of the 2022 season has not been easy for Mercedes and, above all, for Lewis Hamilton, who has gone from fighting for the Formula 1 world title against Max Verstappen and Red Bull to being overtaken by his new teammate. team, George Russell.
The seven-time world champion has been surprised by the poor performance of the W13 and how the other Brit gets the most out of the car after finishing in the first nine rounds in the top five in all of them without exception. For those reasons, someone who has been one of the most powerful voices in the history of motorsport’s top flight, Bernie Ecclestone , has criticized Hamilton quite harshly.
The one who was the owner of Formula 1 until the acquisition by Liberty Media in 2016, gave his point of view on how the Mercedes team should face the future of the seven-time English champion, and was clear in saying that the silver arrows would have to dive into the transfer market to replace him for salary reasons.
“Maybe Lewis [Hamilton] could give up his seat and leave the decision to Toto [Wolff, boss of the German team],” said the 91-year-old businessman. “It could be for half of the remaining salary, so they could find a person to be in the car for less money and keep 20 million in the team coffers.”
“No one needs to say it because they’ve already thought about it,” Ecclestone told the Daily Mail . “I don’t know what he’s doing in those expensive clothes. Does he have a contract or is he just trying to get noticed? Maybe that’s it.”
“I didn’t think Russell was going to be that good, but he’s doing an excellent job. I’m surprised, but maybe Lewis is doing it wrong, and Toto is a bit tired of him,” the Mercedes chief continued.
After the start of the 2022 Formula 1 season, Hamilton has been on the podium twice, although he is 34 points behind his teammate, who has three times in the positions of honor.
“He has a strong competitive spirit, but I think he takes losing a little lightly,” Ecclestone said. “I think he can’t help George like that, he doesn’t do anything, and I don’t think he cares too much, he doesn’t put as much effort into the races as he used to.”
