Lewis Hamilton is clearly a very frustrated young man right now. The Mclaren driver has now fallen 76 points behind Sebastian Vettel in the drivers standings in fourth and faces a third consecutive year without a quick enough car to add to his 2008 triumph. Hamilton is widely considered to be the most exciting racing driver in the business and to see yet another potential championship slip away must be be increasingly unbearable. After his nightmare start to the 2009 season, Hamilton proved that he could win without the quickest cars and took two glorious victories in Hungary and Singapore. Last season, he led the championship for large spells despite having the third fastest car and one must wonder how different his season would have been had he not crashed in Italy and Singapore. No one will ever no. As for this year, it is similarly exasperating.
McLaren's race pace has been identical to that of the Red Bull in 2011 but in qualifying trim Hamilton and team mate Jenson Button have been some way off. Vettel's five victories and two second places this season along with six pole positions are testament to that. Nevertheless, in spite of Vettel's extraordinary beginning to see the season he is not unbeatable, as we saw in Canada last weekend and in China two months ago. The fact that Vettel is not untouchable must surely be the reason we are seeing ragged drives from Lewis lately. For me, Hamilton's troubles did not start in Q3 in Monaco but in the previous race in Spain. He hunted down Vettel's Red Bull doggedly, lap after lap, but the superiority of the Red Bull allowed Vettel to take a narrow win. Despite KERS and DRS, Hamilton could not get by and that must have destroyed him.
If we rewind to China, or most Hamilton race victories, he has performed a magnificent overtake to take the victory. It is very race we see a lights to flag victory for Lewis these days due to Mclaren not having the fastest car. What must have perplexed Hamilton, though, was the fact he was on Sebastian's tail for much of the afternoon but could not get by. He had to settle for a frustrating second place which meant the next two races in Monaco and Canada, ironically his favourites, were vital. Nobody could have foreseen that he would finish sixth in Monte Carlo after two penalties and a disastrous qualifying, or retire after seven laps in Montreal by crashing into Button. Such is his state of mind currently, though, that he cannot except his current predicament in F1 and desperation is now creeping into his driving.
I would argue that Hamilton remains the fastest driver out there, but certainly not the most complete. He wants to be the greatest driver of his generation but as we have seen countless times down the year a driver is nothing without superior machinery. Yes you make sneak the odd win without the quickest car but to consistently outperform the quicker drivers is a daunting task. Hamilton discovered this last season; as the teams reached the business end of the season, only his dazzling skills behind the wheel were keeping him in the title picture.
Which leads me to ask this question: could he leave Mclaren? The likelihood of a departure from the team which has groomed him into a world class driver from the age of 13 is increasing by the race. The Hamilton-Red Bull rumours have been circulating for quite some time now but in Montreal they really stepped up a notch. Hamilton was spotted in discussions with Red Bull team boss Christian Horner on Saturday evening in Montreal, intensifying speculation he would join them for 2013. Both played down their meeting but in truth I see it as significant moment in Hamilton's career. Is he pining for a move to Red Bull, where he could truly match up to Vettel on equal footing?
It may be a puzzler to many as to why he chose to meet Horner just a stone's throw away from the Mclaren motorhome but he would not be the first. Most famously in 2005, then Mclaren team principal Ron Dennis suggested the idea of a switch to Mclaren to Renault driver Fernando Alonso as both men waited to go to the podium at the Brazilian Grand Prix, where subsequently Alonso had just clinched his first world title. Alonso eventually joined Mclaren in 2007 but negotiations began from that chance meeting. However, reverting back to Hamilton for a moment, he will face plenty of obstacles if he decides to switch to Red Bull.
With Mark Webber's current situation at Red Bull inconclusive, Hamilton may find himself usurped by drivers like Sebastien Buemi or Daniel Ricciardo should the Australian decide to leave. This would leave Hamilton stuck at Mclaren and potentially in a car less competitive. Nevertheless, with significant rule changes in place for 2013, Hamilton would be silly to commit himself so early. Say decided to join Red Bull, how would he feel if Mclaren produced the quickest car from 2013 onwards? Believe me, it would not be such a surprise.
I am curious, though, as to why Horner needs Hamilton at Red Bull. Sure it would be a tantalising prospect for the spectators, but after seeing his team nearly implode in 2010 why does he need that pressure? And as we have seen from Lewis' recent incidents, particularly with Button, he is not afraid of going toe-to-toe with a world champion team mate. This is the guy that took on double world champion Alonso in his rookie season, for Pete's sake.
From a marketing viewpoint, Hamilton joining Red Bull would be sensational. Two youthful, exciting talents going head-to-head in the same team would be incredible and would no doubt entice young fans to the sport. Hamilton, though, would be going into Vettel's team and so the inter-team battles would begin in earnest. Hamilton's arrival would also be spectacular from a neutral perspective, especially for those unsure which driver is superior. It may have been unthinkable a couple of season ago, but now it is a mouthwatering prospect.
Josh.
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