According to Damon Hill, Mercedes will have to do everything they can to fight back. The racing stable had a lesser season last year, but the new F1 season has not started well either. According to Damon Hill, the pressure is therefore being increased, not least by Lewis Hamilton.
With a fifth and seventh place at the opening race of the new F1 season in Bahrain, Mercedes cannot and should not be satisfied. Especially because the result would have been even worse without Charles Leclerc’s retirement.
During the F1 Nation podcast, Damon Hill was asked if Toto Wolff would step up the pressure, but according to Hill, pressure is something that is inherent to Formula 1 as a sport.
It’s hard to criticize, Hill said. You don’t want to say Ok guys, someone needs to fix this. After all, people’s jobs are important and the last thing they need is extra pressure.
However, Formula 1 is a very busy environment, which is typical of this sport. It’s part of the sport that you’re in the spotlight, it’s not a place to hide.
Someone is going to see what is right and wrong. And if it is an individual who is leading the people in the wrong direction, then they are going to be pressured.
For example, I do not think that Mattia Binotto should absolutely be put aside at Ferrari, but that is exactly what happened, that is typical of this sport.
According to Hill, Lewis Hamilton in particular is now increasing the pressure within the Mercedes team. Hamilton made some very critical statements about the team, including that Mercedes did not listen to him when developing the current car. It shows that there is resentment within the team and that Hamilton is pushing the pressure particularly hard.
Lewis brought up the problem. He came out and said I told them, they didn’t listen, Hill says. That’s not really supportive. That’s applying pressure, so if anyone’s putting the pressure on it’s Lewis.
I think Lewis Hamilton’s mere presence puts pressure on the team, much more than anything we can say or do.