Did Lewis Hamilton get exposed during the 2022 F1 season?

Lewis Hamilton came into the 2022 F1 season raring to go after the heartbreak of what happened last year in Abu Dhabi. This was the first time since 2016 that the Mercedes driver had lost a title fight against anyone. Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion, was coming back to take what was rightfully his.

Well, the 2022 F1 season is over. Max Verstappen is now a two-time world champion while Lewis Hamilton finished the season 6th in the championship. It seems Mercedes had a hard time interpreting the new regulations and couldn't provide a competitive enough car to fight for the title. As a result, Lewis Hamilton had the worst F1 season of his career.

This was the first time in Hamilton's career that he could not either win a race or secure pole position. Sixth place is the worst championship finish of his entire career. To add to this, George Russell, his teammate, became the third driver in history to outscore Lewis on the same team over the course of a season.

From being called the GOAT by many sections of fans (and F1 Pundits) in 2020 to having the worst season of his career, did Lewis Hamilton get exposed in the 2022 F1 season?

What does Lewis Hamilton getting "exposed" mean?

Before anyone jumps the gun, let me clarify what I mean. During the turbo-hybrid era, when Mercedes had a far superior car than anyone else, there were proclamations that Lewis Hamilton was not only the best on the current grid, but also the undisputed GOAT of F1.

Hamilton's critics, however, did not agree and pointed out some key factors as to why that was not the case. For them, while Lewis Hamilton should be considered one of the best drivers of his generation alongside Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, he is not the outright best. Hamilton's vastly superior car, they argued, had played a huge role in the inflated opinion of the Mercedes driver.

When talking about whether Lewis Hamilton was exposed this season, we are trying to determine whether the opinion of the Mercedes driver was inflated because of the superior machinery he had under him.

To determine this, we will take a look at some of Hamilton's career's biggest criticisms. We will then try to see if those points correlate with his performance this season, when he did not have a dominant car under him. Finally, after giving arguments on both sides, I can give my verdict on whether Lewis Hamilton was actually exposed this season or not.

So without further ado, let's get straight to it!

Lewis Hamilton's biggest career criticisms

Let's take a look at some of the arguments against Hamilton being the GOAT.

Before 2014, he was a Top 5 driver but not the best driver

If we exclude 2007 and 2008 when McLaren had the best car on the grid alongside Ferrari, Hamilton's best championship standing was 4th. On the surface, it might not look that bad, but if we delve deeper, we find that in 2013, Mercedes had the second-fastest car on the grid and finished second in the championship. Lewis finished 4th that season behind Fernando Alonso.

In 2011, Hamilton's teammate Jenson Button was the championship runner-up while Lewis finished the season in 5th. During those years between 2009-2013, Hamilton had some spectacular race wins and, in terms of talent, was considered in the same breath as Alonso and Vettel. But in terms of results, he wasn't matching up with them. Was he considered the best driver on the grid at the time? Not really.

Hamilton had multiple off-weekends over a season

This point was something that both Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button have touched on as the key to beating Lewis. Hamilton has a tendency to have a few off-weekends over a season, something that you can see quite vividly if you look at any of his seasons (The 2021 F1 season saw multiple off-weekends in Imola, Monaco, Turkey etc).

In 2016, one of the biggest reasons why Rosberg was able to beat Hamilton was the fact that he was able to cut down on his off-weekends. He capitalized on any bad race that Lewis Hamilton had and it all added up in the end.

Compare that to Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, considered the best drivers of their generation by many, and you can see the difference in consistency. Alonso, especially, was relentless throughout full seasons and rarely extracted anything but the maximum from his car. His Ferrari stint was legendary when it came to the consistency and level of driving he was able to put together. It was almost rare to see Alonso losing to his teammate Felipe Massa, a driver who almost won the title in 2008 against Lewis Hamilton.

Losing to his teammates

Against Hamilton, one of the biggest criticisms has been his losses against his teammates. Admittedly, Both Rosberg and Button were world champions and thus perhaps excusable to a certain extent. Having said that, neither Button nor Rosberg was considered the best drivers on the grid when they beat Lewis.

In Button's case, drivers like Alonso and Vettel were rated higher during his time. Rosberg raced alongside Daniel Ricciardo, Alonso and Vettel, all of whom were placed on a bigger pedestal than him at the time. If you are losing to drivers that are not the best on the grid with the same machinery, it is a huge indictment against your claim to be the best of all time.

Overhyped wet weather credentials boosted only by the Mercedes stint

Lewis Hamilton is considered one of the better drivers in the wet. Having said that, from 2009 to 2013, Hamilton did not win a single wet race. Alonso had multiple wet race wins in the same period. So did Button and Vettel. For a driver that gets rated as high as Lewis Hamilton does, his record in wet weather conditions could not hold a candle in front of some of his compatriots.

How do these criticisms stack up in his 2022 F1 season?

Now, let's see how the arguments against Hamilton hold up for his 2022 F1 season performance.

He was a top 5 driver but not the best driver

It is safe to say that in my rankings, Lewis Hamilton does not rank in the top 5 drivers of the 2022 season. If we are generous, we could maybe push Alonso out and give him the No. 5 slot. Even then, that's the best slot that I can give him. Overall, this season, Lewis had some great peaks but there were far too many off-weekends to put him higher than Verstappen, Leclerc, Norris, Russell or Alonso.

Multiple off-weekends over a season

Lewis Hamilton was completely off the boil in Imola. He went missing in Monaco. The race in Baku was not that good, and so was the crash in Spa or the rather average outing in Suzuka. In a season where he went on a 5-race podium streak, there were far too many off-weekends.

On the other hand, drivers like Verstappen, Norris, and Leclerc did not suffer from the same pitfalls. Norris kept his nose clean and was consistent, Verstappen had a bad race in Brazil and Singapore while Leclerc suffered disasters in France and Imola. More or less, his competitors were on point for the rest of the season.

Outscored by his teammate

There is certainly an argument that could be made about who was the better driver between Lewis and his teammate. 3 front rows for Russell compared to 1 for Hamilton, 1 pole position and 1 win for Russell to 0 poles or wins for Lewis, and most importantly, the points tally of George's 275 to Lewis' 240 makes a strong case in favor of the young Mercedes driver.

Lack of wet weather prowess

Some of the worst races this season for Lewis Hamilton were in the wet. The race in Imola was a disaster. The race in Singapore was a poor showing for Hamilton and finally the race in Japan saw Lewis unable to pass an Alpine on worn intermediate tires for more than 20 laps. When it comes to wet weather, the kind of supremacy that Lewis Hamilton showed in the rain when Mercedes was dominant is not there anymore.

Was Lewis Hamilton exposed?

Yes, He was.

Before Hamilton joined Mercedes and the team produced an unbeatable car, he was not considered the best driver on the grid. As soon as the dominant car is out of the picture, Hamilton finds himself in the same championship position that he was in before 2014.

Most of Hamilton's 'GOAT' and 'the best driver on the grid' proclamations have been made based on the success he achieved driving a dominant Mercedes with little competition. As soon as the car isn't dominant, while Hamilton finds himself belonging to the top echelon of drivers on the grid, he is not the best. This evaluation of him was fair before 2014 and ironically, this evaluation seems fair 8 years later as well.

Lewis Hamilton is a brilliant driver, but it is safe to say that the 2022 F1 season has effectively ended all claims of him being the "GOAT" or "the best driver on the grid".

The other side of the coin

Now, let's discuss reasons that could try to explain Hamilton's underwhelming 2022 F1 season.

A drop in motivation after the heartbreak of last season

For the 2022 F1 season, there could easily be a possibility that Lewis suffered from a drop in motivation. He suffered a massive heartbreak in Abu Dhabi last season. This season was supposed to be payback but when he realized that the car was not good enough, his motivation dropped.

Though Lewis Hamilton's first phase of the season was not great after the race in Canada, there was a marked improvement towards the end of the season as well.

Fortune played a role in losing to Russell

It is true that Russell scored the only pole for Mercedes but could Lewis Hamilton have done the same if he did not encounter an issue on his last flying lap? The win in Brazil too had many things working for Hamilton's teammate. The red flag brought out by George Russell left Lewis with a worse grid position. As a result, while Russell won the sprint, Lewis was right behind him. Lewis and Max colliding also gave Russell the opportunity to streak away.

2020 F1 Turkish GP a proof of sublime wet weather skills

When it comes to questioning Hamilton's wet weather skills, all one needs to do is watch the 2020 F1 Turkish GP. The race was a wet weather masterclass by Lewis and should be treated like one. Even before that, drives like the race win in Silverstone in 2008 should remove any doubts about the ability of the Mercedes driver.

Age catching up?

Arguably the most important point has to be the fact that Lewis Hamilton is now 37 years of age. While Fernando Alonso can continue to do logic-defying stuff at 41, it is not a long shot to claim that Hamilton's prime might be behind him. At 37, an F1 driver is not necessarily at the peak of his career. While Lewis is still driving at a very high level, the younger crop is surely catching up and maybe drivers like Leclerc and Verstappen have surpassed him already. Should his performance at 37 years of age be used as a parameter to judge how he performed in his prime? Doesn't seem fair.

Verdict

Now that I have gone through both sides of the argument, I could pick a side and say yes, Lewis Hamilton was exposed this season, or no, he wasn't. But what's the fun in that?

I'll leave the judgment to you guys. What do you think? Was Lewis Hamilton exposed or not? Do let me know in the comments section.