Lewis Hamilton’s difficult outing at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix led the seven-time World Champion to concede that he was not in contention for the Formula 1 Drivers’ title in 2022.
Mercedes has started the current campaign on the backfoot, with rivals Ferrari and Red Bull setting the pace out front.
The Brackley-based squad has appeared to be the third-fastest team throughout the opening portion of the season, and it currently occupies third in the standings.
But while George Russell made a bulk of his overtakes at Imola on the opening lap after both he and his team-mate started outside the top 10, Hamilton couldn’t make moves early on. Overtaking proved to be difficult on Sunday, and Hamilton was stuck in the pack and crossed the line in 13th, painfully one lap down on race-winner Max Verstappen.
Hamilton’s title chances from here on in do indeed appear slim, after the 37-year-old has had one of the worst season starts in his F1 career.
Saudi Arabia and Imola were particularly damaging for him, and he currently sits seventh in the Drivers’ Championship on 28 points.
Only once before has Hamilton had less points to start a season (when adjusted to the current points system that was introduced at the start of the 2010 campaign).
That occurred in 2009, when his season opened with a disqualification from the Australian Grand Prix after he was found to have misled the stewards in an investigation.
He followed it up with a run to seventh place in Malaysia, where he received only one point as half points were handed out due to the race being called early. Hamilton then went on to finish sixth and fourth in China and Bahrain respectively, before going on a stint of five races without recording a point-paying finish.
See below how Hamilton’s seasons have compared across the first four races, with his point tallies in 2007, 2008 and 2009 adjusting to reflect the current points system.
| Year | Points |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 95 |
| 2021 | 94 |
| 2020 | 88 |
| 2009 | 86 |
| 2014 | 76 |
| 2017 | 75 |
| 2007 | 70 |
| 2018 | 70 |
| 2011 | 59 |
| 2016 | 57 |
| 2008 | 50 |
| 2010 | 50 |
| 2013 | 50 |
| 2012 | 49 |
| 2022 | 28 |
| 2009 | 23 |
Keyword: Hamilton has endured his second-worst opening four F1 races