BBC F1 Pundit Sam Bird describes Lewis Hamilton’s performance at Saudi Arabia’s Grand Prix as “very normal.”
Hamilton struggled with his pace at the Jeddah Cornish circuit and finished more than 30 seconds behind Ferrari teammate Charles Leclair.
Hamilton’s weakest weekend of the year and it’s a disappointing seventh.
Jeddah has been a poor track for Hamilton since 2022, but the seven-time world champion was a downbeat, obviously, after the race.
Hamilton admitted it was a challenging season and there were no signs of things turning back.
“There’s no correction at this point, so this is how it will be for the rest or year. That’s going to be painful,” Hamilton said.
“In qualifying, we extracted performances and in the race we tried everything, but the car didn’t want to be faster.”
Byrd, part of Mercedes in the early 2010s, gave his views on Hamilton’s struggle in Saudi Arabia.
“It’s hard to hear people say Lewis Hamilton is lost,” Byrd said on the BBC’s Checkered Flag Podcast. “He won over 100 Formula 1 races, but he doesn’t look comfortable. He doesn’t look really comfortable. He doesn’t sound comfortable.
“At this point there’s nothing coming from him. There’s no sparkle in the well. We were good with this stint. We were good at this stage of the race. Unfortunately, it was totally normal.”
Hamilton needs to do “homework”
Byrd believes Hamilton needs to press the answer when he returns to Maranello to understand his struggle.
“I’m a huge Lewis fan. I’ve supported him for years. I’ve said it over and over again. He’s world class,” Bird added.
“But now he’s not comfortable with that Ferrari and it really shows, so it sticks out, especially when he’s driving like he does today and looking perfectly in the car and dragging onto the podium when Lewis finishes 30 seconds ago.
“I mean, he has to do his homework and ask questions at Maranello right now. Does Charles extract miles from this car than I do?
“What should I do differently? How can I change the driving style? Which tools is he using? Which setup is he using on the other side of the garage? Because I need to make some changes.”