© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Karun Chandhok talks about Lewis Hamilton’s 2022 season and says George Russell “had a bit of a wake-up call in that middle part of the year when Lewis lifted his game”.
In Sky Sports’ 2022 Formula 1 season review, former F1 driver Karun Chandhok said Lewis Hamilton’s situation at the beginning of the year reminded him of Ayrton Senna in 1993.
Back then, Senna had to struggle with his uncompetitive McLaren, while Williams’ Alain Prost and Damon Hill completely dominated the season.
“Lewis, at the start of the year, I’m sure his motivation wasn’t there, and I can understand that,” Chandhok said.
“It reminded me of Senna in 1993. This was a guy who was the number one driver of his generation, he arrives at the opening race and goes ‘God, I’m only capable of qualifying on the third row of the grid’.
“Where’s the motivation? Then we got to Barcelona, they turned a little bit of the corner and he rose to the challenge.”
It’s important to note that in the first half of the season, Hamilton has been focusing on testing and improving the W13, at the expense of his own performance.
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Later on in the season, when the car started performing better, Lewis returned to his usual exceptional performances.
“At the start of the year, it was looking really good for Russell, he was regularly outqualifying Lewis,” Chandhok continued.
“I think he had a bit of a wake-up call in that middle part of the year when Lewis lifted his game, and I think George went on a run where he couldn’t get ahead.
“I think he thought ‘woah, I’ve woken the beast’. But to his credit, towards the end of the year – and that weekend and win in Brazil was the standout – he came back.
“I’m fascinated to see how those two are together next year,” he concluded.
