09 September 2023 , 05:00
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Lewis Hamilton was pushing too hard to get the best out of his poor Mercedes car last season, when George Russell beat him over the course of the year.
That's the theory of Formula 1 champion Jacques Villeneuve, who has been observing the situation at Mercedes from the sidelines. And, like many other, he too has noticed a change between the drivers this year.
It was Russell who got the better of the intra-team battle in their first season together. With Mercedes not competitive enough to challenge for the title, it was all about maximising the points that they could get.
Russell did better in that regard, finishing 35 ahead of Hamilton. But the story so far this year has been different, with the seven-time world champion gunning for a top-three finish and 55 points ahead of his team-mate.
Villeneuve believes Hamilton, so used to competing for the title every single year, might have been trying too hard in 2022. But this year things have changed, as he told Planet F1.
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"Russell is having a hard time compared to last year, he had a much better season last year for some reason," said the Canadian. So I don't know if it's him that has changed or Lewis that is driving better, but the balance has shifted a bit this year.
"George last year was typical... [remember] what [Daniel] Ricciardo did when he arrived in Red Bull? George moved from Williams to Mercedes, and Lewis was there. So compare [Sebastian] Vettel to Ricciardo, and Lewis to George. Lewis wants to win races... but George wants to beat Lewis. So it's not the same approach in setting the car up.
"Lewis didn't want to settle for third or fourth, so you end up maybe pushing in areas on setups to try and compensate for half a second. And, oftentimes, that will make you go slower.
"That's what happened with Vettel that first year against Ricciardo. So the rookie driver just minds his own business and is just happy to be the team-mate and suddenly, [they're] amazing. But, in the second year, that doesn't work anymore."
And once Hamilton has the car beneath him to do it, Villeneuve has no doubt that he'll be back fighting with Max Verstappen. He added: "When Lewis is in a position, like Max is, where the car is his and it does everything he wants, he's unbeatable... I'm not worried about that!"