Lewis Hamilton is potentially 'resigning himself to writing off' the current F1 season ahead of this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix, it has been claimed.
The 39-year-old is currently in his last season as a Mercedes driver, having agreed a blockbuster move to Ferrari back in February.
Hamilton insisted prior to the campaign that he would do everything in his power to end his stint with the Silver Arrows on a high.
Yet the Stevenage-born racer has struggled so far and, last time out in Australia, was unable to finish the race.
Lewis Hamilton is 'resigning himself to writing off the F1 season' amid Mercedes' woes ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix
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Hamilton has admitted Mercedes have a 'massive problem' on their hands.
And former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestly, speaking to the BBC, feels Hamilton might be 'writing off' his last season with Mercedes.
“The bigger problem is the sort of the inconsistencies that they’re finding in this car, they’re a little bit lost," he said.
"They’re lost with where to go with it.
“But isn’t that exactly the same story we’ve been hearing over the last two years?
“They ditched their last concept, this sort of idea of going in a very different direction technically to most other teams, they abandoned that after two years of struggling with it because they were lost.
“They’ve now gone to what, at least on the face of it, looks like a more familiar concept, much more in line with everyone else. And they’re lost.
"So this is a really difficult situation.
“Of course, if you’re Lewis Hamilton, at least you’ve got an exit out of this, you know that there is a move to Ferrari coming at the end of this year.
“So maybe that might explain why he’s sort of a little bit objective about all of this, how he’s not kind of so despondent.
“This is not the future or his career hanging in the balance with this Mercedes like it is for George Russell and would have been if you’d asked him two years ago.
“This is a Lewis Hamilton that might be starting to resign himself to the fact that he’s got to write this year off, and he cannot wait to get those red overalls on, they can’t come quickly enough.”
Fellow pundit Harry Benjamin also thinks Hamilton is 'lost at sea'.
“Hamilton in particular it seems in comparison to Russell is just lost at sea,” he said.
“They seem optimistic that there is inherent pace inside this car but right now the biggest issues are the car’s performance in high-speed corners.
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Lewis Hamilton will be hoping to finish the Japanese Grand Prix after toiling in Australia last time out
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“That trend will continue unless they fundamentally sort out the issues that are wrong with this car.
"And once again, looking bigger picture, it’s another car that yes, okay publicly at least they’re saying it’s better than the last one, but is it it’s still another car that Mercedes have produced that is not complying the way they want it to.”
Hamilton, meanwhile, admitted after the last race in Australia that he was enduring the 'worst start to a season' that he's ever had.
“I mean, this is the worst start to a season I’ve ever had," he conceded.
“Surprisingly, I feel pretty good. I’m trying to keep things in perspective, you know, this like, could be so much worse.
Lewis Hamilton will be replacing Carlos Sainz at the end of the season
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“I’m really grateful. I’ve really enjoyed my time here in Australia, I’m still enjoying working with a team.
"Of course, I’d love to be fighting for wins and actually finishing races.
“It’s never a great feeling when you come all this way, and you don’t see even half of the race, but what I know is that we will bounce back, we will eventually get there, we just have to continue to chip away.”
