There is an ominous darkening encircling world champion Lewis Hamilton as he struggles vainly to light up the defence of his title and claim a fourth crown.
Puzzlingly, he has slipped into reverse in the title chase, a setback starkly highlighted and aggravated by his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg’s spectacular surge both to top form and with a return to the top of the championship.
Concerns are widespread in Formula One that Hamilton’s jet-setting lifestyle, party-going and seemingly endless and limitless mixing with pop stars, models and Hollywood celebs in between his races, sometimes only days before a Grand Prix, are a distraction that have hampered his focus on the job he is paid around £30 million (Dh143.2 million) a year to carry out.
He has not been a winner since July. In cruel contrast, Nico Rosberg, his scourge, can do no wrong and last time out in Singapore, he made light work of the threats posed by the tricky Marina Bay track to complete a hat-trick of successive victories after Belgium and Italy, and advance eight points clear.
No driver has ever, like him, won eight races in a season and not lifted the championship. And with Hamilton subdued and at times subject to error, and with Rosberg in impeccable and unbeatable form, with only six races to go, the writing appears to be on the F1 wall.
It is difficult for us outsiders to figure out the exact problem that has so dramatically put a halt on Hamilton’s charge. I have no doubt that the Mercedes hierarchy, a mixture of joy over Rosberg’s resurgence and misery over Hamilton’s lapses, have the answer. But they are not revealing anything. At least one of their drivers is now in a starring role.
As he ponders his plight during his commutes to party-time in America in his private jet, Hamilton himself knows what has gone wrong, what is ailing him, what is the root cause and just what he can do to salvage his reputation and return value for the big money he is being paid by the German legends.
I am joined by a long-time friend, Sir Jackie Stewart, in my confusion surrounding 31-year-old Hamilton’s likely demise as this season’s top guy. He notes that Hamilton, hitting the heights of ability, fought back from a 43 point deficit to establish a 19-point lead at the summer break only to helplessly lose it.
Scotsman Stewart, Britain’s first three-time world champion, echoes my worries that Hamilton, lulled into a false sense of security and confidence after his record-breaking run of success, with 49 wins and three crowns, has lost his grip and concentration.
In support of the fears of millions of his fans worldwide that Hamilton’s lifestyle could be the basic cause, he has hinted, too, that is where the answer could lie.
The old Grand Prix hero, a strict self disciplinarian in his heyday says: ”You can bottom out, and it can happen because when you have consistent success everything can seem so easy.
“Suddenly things can go less well. You overdrive, you are not on the ball or you live a life that distracts you in one way or another. If you are the top in anything you can get carried away with success.
“You think you can get away with it. Then somebody else comes along and drives a bit better or a bit more consistently.”
Well said, Sir Jackie. I hope that as he reclines in his 35,000-feet high comfort zone en route to yet another celebrity get-together, Hamilton is reading this and accepting the advice and guidance so honestly and concernedly offered.
— The writer is a motorsport expert