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The Formula 1 season ended with Sunday's race in Abu Dhabi, and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton remained without a victory for the first time in his career and was ranked worse than his teammate George Russell. Hamilton ended the race at Yas Marina early due to a car breakdown, unlike Russell he has no win in the season, and he is also below him in the overall drivers' standings.
The former champion finished 6th overall with 240 points, while Russell reached 4th place with 275 points in his first season at Mercedes. He also managed to register one victory by triumphing in Brazil. However, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff defended Hamilton despite the defeat to his younger colleague.
“That is irrelevant,” said Wolff of Russell’s advantage. “They were not racing for a world championship. “They haven’t raced for victories apart from Brazil. I don’t think for any of the team it matters whether they finish second, third, fourth or fifth”.
Hamilton admitted he had a frustrating season.
“This year was not the greatest,” he added. “It is probably up there with the top-three worst seasons. But in terms of how the team stayed united, there have been lots of pluses.
It would have been nice to have taken a win, but one win is not really enough is it? “I feel like this year, when we got our first fifth, it felt like a win. When we got our first fourth, it felt like a win. When we got our first podium, it felt like a win, and those second places felt as if we really achieved something, so I’ll just hold on to those”.
After the Abu Dhabi post-season test, Hamilton posted on Instagram: “I have no doubt we’ll come back better. We’ll be back. I’ll be back” The next season of Formula 1 starts in March.