Marc Priestley, who is a former engineer for Lewis Hamilton, has explained his attitude and stated that he understands it.
According to Marc Priestley, it is quite understandable that Lewis Hamilton has been a lot less critical of Mercedes this season than in the past two seasons, even though the results aren’t much better than before.
The former engineer of Lewis Hamilton at McLaren feels that the Brit is no longer as concerned because he knows a new challenge awaits him in 2025.
After this season, Hamilton will leave his “racing family” to join Ferrari, where he will become Charles Leclerc’s teammate. At the moment, this seems like a good choice, as Ferrari is on the rise and Mercedes continues to struggle with the development of their cars.
Since the start of the current regulations, Mercedes has been lost and has been unable to get a grip on their cars. In 2022 and 2023, this led to quite a bit of criticism from Lewis Hamilton, who repeatedly argued that Mercedes’ engineers made choices he disagreed with, putting the team into a downward spiral.
In 2024, Hamilton has been much more positive about his team, although the results are not much better. Currently, Hamilton is ninth in the championship, with just eight points from the first three races.
But according to Marc Priestley, it makes perfect sense that Hamilton no longer feels compelled to put his colleagues on edge. He knows that it’s all coming to an end after this season.
“Mercedes has switched to a more familiar concept this year, which looks much more like what the other teams have. But they are still lost. They are in a very difficult situation,” said Priestley on the BBC Chequered Flag Podcast.
“But if you are Lewis Hamilton, you know there is a way out. You know you will be making the move to Ferrari at the end of the year. That explains why he is so calm about this whole situation and not as despondent as before.”
