Doornbos: 'Not good that Wolff keeps apologising to Hamilton'

The former Formula 1 driver can understand why Mercedes is not satisfied with its own work, but according to Doornbos it is also Hamilton himself who is not getting the maximum out of the car. Teammate George Russell, who is new to the team, does manage to maximize every weekend.

"I also don't like the fact that Toto keeps apologising to Hamilton after every race that the car is so bad," he said. His teammate finished 20 seconds ahead of him and was on the podium. He is not complaining either," Doornbos says in his column for Top Gear."It's a particularly bad year for Lewis on all sides, but I don't think the team is helping him by defending him like this."

Whereas 'Mister Consistency' Russell was on the podium for three years in 2022, Hamilton stuck to one third place after eight Grands Prix. The Mercedes driver is suffering tremendously from porpoising and clearly does not feel comfortable in the W13. Doornbos thinks Hamilton's irritation will only increase now that Russell manages to score relatively many World Championship points each weekend.