Mercedes woes making Lewis Hamilton prolong F1 career

Lewis Hamilton is going through his longest dry spell in Formula 1, having failed to win since the penultimate race of the 2021 season in Saudi Arabia. The Mercedes driver has never once failed to win during a season since making his debut with McLaren in 2007.

The seven-time world champion admitted that it is disappointing to not be battling at the front, but is enjoying the challenge of trying to solve Mercedes' issues. Hamilton also indicated that the Silver Arrows' current woes is playing a role in prolonging his F1 career.

The reigning constructors' champions' unique "no side-pod design" failed to deliver, and they started the season well off the pace. Red Bull Racing and Ferrari emerged as the frontrunners, with the former now favourites to win both world championships in 2022.

Mercedes have made steady growth as the season progressed, and are now closer to challenging the frontrunners than at the start of the campaign. The Brackley-based team have, at certain tracks, shown signs of challenging the frontrunners, but are still well off from fighting for race wins.

Hamilton is happy to have experienced a rough patch with Mercedes, after having dominated for the last eight seasons. The Briton admitted that it will take longer than one year to get back to winning ways, and he is happy to remain with the Silver Arrows team until he can consistently add to his 103 race wins.

"Definitely, because it's going to take longer than one year," Hamilton told Racer as part of a wide ranging interview. "I think if we had just won last year and then we would win this year, definitely life would be in a different place and you'd be on a different course."

"I love that it's gone through a phase even harder and we've got to pull through that thick slog and get to the point where we are a little bit lighter and we're floating a little bit more. So yeah, I would say that it's encouraged me to stay longer."

The F1 juggernaut's next destination is the night race in Singapore, where Max Verstappen will have a chance to wrap up the 2022 Drivers' championship title. Ferrari, and Charles Leclerc - the Dutchman's closest challenger - will hope to prolong the battle by getting back to winning ways.