The Jeddah Corniche Circuit certainly hasn’t been the kindest to Lewis Hamilton in the last 12 months, with the seven-time world champion having endured a challenging qualifying at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Whilst he wasn’t eliminated in Q1 like last season, the Mercedes driver was comfortably beaten by team-mate George Russell, who secured a superb third place for Sunday’s race.
Hamilton on the other hand will start seventh, after he was beaten by Sergio Pérez, both Aston Martin drivers, his team-mate, Carlos Sainz and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.
Had it not been for Charles Leclerc’s 10-place grid penalty, then Hamilton would’ve been starting the race from eighth, after going 0.958s slower than Pérez’s pole time.
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Concerningly, Hamilton was four-tenths slower than Russell, who has had the better of Hamilton all weekend so far in Jeddah.
To no surprise given how quickly things spill over into social media in the F1 community these days, thousands of fans expressed their disappointment in Hamilton’s performance.
“Lewis really disappoints. Seems like the motivation is gone,” wrote @Der_Boersianer on Twitter.
Several fans spoke in similar fashion, whilst others added that the driver “is not himself” since announcing that trainer Angela Cullen will be leaving him after seven years together.
“He is not himself. The Angela thing is odd also,” @MartinC76411006 wrote on social media.
“Clearly Russell is faster than Hamilton!!!” said @SahdRicardo, despite Hamilton having beaten Russell in Bahrain after qualifying behind the Williams driver.
Another fan came up with a theory that Mercedes are purposefully giving Hamilton a “crappy ride”, in the hope that the veteran leaves the team, allowing reserve driver Mick Schumacher to take his place.
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The fan’s theory comes despite Hamilton and team principal Toto Wolff having revealed that their partnership will be continuing beyond 2023, with the duo currently in the negotiation phase of a new contract.
“@LewisHamilton Bro what is the deal?” asked @DaddyL178.
“Have you lost your edge? Our are they giving you a crappy ride to make way for little #mickschumacher? I guess we should have known something was going on when your sidekick #AngelaCollen stepped aside. Let’s Go!”