‘Underdog’ Lewis Hamilton a ‘Galvanizing Force’ in Recovering Mercedes From F1 Downfall: Palmer

There is no denying that Lewis Hamilton enjoyed a rather dominant phase with Mercedes since 2014, having secured a massive 6 titles out of that. However, his dominance seems to be diminishing with every passing weekend, all thanks to the resurgence of Red Bull and their star driver, Max Verstappen.

The gap between Hamilton and Verstappen is expanding every week, and the former is swarming for the extra bit of pace to beat the latter. Of course, Mercedes’ car this year is the reason behind Red Bull’s strong showing.

But, despite the pace advantage, Hamilton has been carrying his team to glory, showing no signs of weaknesses from his end. Former F1 driver, Jolyon Palmer, pointed out the same and reckoned that the Briton is the galvanizing force in steering Mercedes towards glory.

What did Lewis Hamilton say?

During a podcast, Palmer opined that the ‘underdog’ version of Hamilton is looking much better than the dominant version.

“Obviously, Lewis is working very hard,” the former Renault driver said while featuring in BBC’s F1 podcast, Chequered Flag.

“I’m really impressed and enjoying Lewis Hamilton this season as the underdog for once and the one that’s having to put in big drives to maybe not win a race, but finish second, take the fight at least to the race leader. And I think he’s doing a very very good job.”

Formula One F1 – Steiermark Grand Prix – Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Styria, Austria – June 27, 2021 Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton after finishing second in the race Pool via REUTERS/Darko Vojinovic

Baku is definitely one of the best examples that show how much Hamilton matters to Mercedes. Neither Hamilton nor his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, showed pace during the practice sessions. Ultimately, it looked like a top 5 finish in qualifying looked far unlikely.

However, then arrived the stellar drive from Hamilton, who managed to defy the odds to claim a front-row start to the race, alongside his title rival.

Hamilton will recover Mercedes from tough days

Palmer opened up that Hamilton has the necessary tools to pull Mercedes out of their recent downfall. he further reckoned it would be the case in the coming weeks.

“I think Mercedes is showing how great an asset he is to the team,” he said. “He’s the galvanizing force to help them recover from tough days. And I think that’ll be the case again, maybe not this weekend but in the next few.”

Formula One F1 – French Grand Prix – Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France – June 20, 2021 Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in action at the end of the race REUTERS/Yves Herman

Overall, Mercedes aren’t giving up without a fight. Lewis Hamilton, in particular, has a huge feat in hand to accomplish. Securing this season’s title would rate the Briton as the first F1 driver to become an 8-time world champion.

So, will the Mercedes driver manage to break past Red Bull and claim his 8th title this season? Or will Verstappen deny Hamilton the glory and rather clinch his first F1 title?

Watch Story: Lewis Hamilton: Ranking His F1 World Titles From 2008 to 2020

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