Sky Sports F1 Pundit Karun Chandhok has raised concerns about the Lewis Hamilton shape following the overwhelming Spanish Grand Prix.
Hamilton finished sixth on the Barcelona Catalña circuit, losing Sauber’s Nico Halkenberg location after the safety car.
The seven-time world champion struggled with the pace of the race compared to his teammate Charles Leclair.
Hamilton has flourished on the Spanish circuit for many years, even in his last two seasons with Mercedes, where he struggled with performances.
Speaking about the latest episode of the Sky F1 podcast, Chandhok explained why he was worried about Hamilton’s performance.
“But I think we’re starting to get a little more critical. We’re in the second third of this season. He’s not finding rhythm. He’s not finding consistency for a week in his happy place in the car,” Chanduk said.
“Imola, who was tragic in qualifying, suddenly the car was great in the race. Monaco, he wasn’t very there. He was a mass behind Charles.
“When I watched the race, the fact that Charles overtook him and left him very comfortably before he got into the various tires.
Hamilton showed a flash of speed during the Ferrari stint.
The 40-year-old won the China Sprint race from pole position.
He also puts in many solid race drives, including a recovery to fourth at Imola.
Chandhok feels that performance fluctuations are too frequent.
“We’re now almost halfway through this year. Is this a fundamental issue where we need to change the direction of the car setup?” he added. “I’m not disputing the fact that he still has the ability. He clearly has. He can win the race, but they need to find a sweet spot every weekend where they know what he has but they don’t have it.
“He still has too many good and bad days. There’s too much variation.”
Canada: “The Place Hamilton Favorite”
Hamilton also delivered some of his best races at the Canadian Circuit Gills Villeneuve.
He won seven times in Montreal, including his maiden victory at McLaren in 2007.
Skycommentator David Croft believes that Hamilton is essential to deliver great results in Canada.
“He didn’t have the first two-thirds race pace, let alone the last two-thirds. You go back to the drawing board and don’t find out what’s wrong,” Croft said.
“If there’s something fundamentally wrong with the car, I think it offers Lewis something to boost morale. I think the next race is very important for Lewis, as Canada is where he does. That’s where he loves.
“This is Lewis Hamilton’s track and if he’s having another downer day like he did in Barcelona, there’s a problem. If someone can do that and turn it around, then Lewis Hamilton’s seven-time world champion can definitely turn it around.”
