Formula 1: Are Lewis Hamilton’s comments anything more than mind games?

Are Lewis Hamilton’s comments about fellow Formula 1 driver and former champion Sebastian Vettel anything more than mind games?

Ever since Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel spun out late in the 2019 Formula 1 season’s second race, the Bahrain Grand Prix, just mere seconds after he was passed by Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton for second place, he has come under heavy criticism from fans.

The 31-year-old German ended up damaging his front wing before it came off later that lap, and he had to make an unscheduled pit stop because of it.

In a race that he could have finished in the top two, Vettel had to battle back just to finish in fifth place, and as a result, he has been accused of caving under pressure when it comes to not only Hamilton but to his new teammate, Charles Leclerc, who dominated the race before an engine issue relegated him to a third place finish.

However, Hamilton came to the defense of the four-time champion, stating that he isn’t simply caving under pressure and that his mistakes are “minuscule”.

Here is what the five-time champion had to say about the matter, according to Autosport.

"“It’s not that it plays on your mind, it happens to all of us. Just because you’re a four-time champion doesn’t mean you’re not going to have off-weekends. It’s more cumulative. If you look at Vettel’s career he’s had stunning performances that far more outweigh the weaker races, and when he’s spun, for example, they are minuscule on the status that he’s accumulated and created.“There are always times where you happen to just not get the right car set-up. You guys don’t get to see all these little things that we’re doing, and it just doesn’t happen to work that weekend. And the differences are so small, and yet they look so big.“I don’t know why their car was so different in pace, but I remember, looking back on me and Nico [Rosberg], we would be in Barcelona, we were quick in testing, and then there were massive differences in the car in the race. You’re literally just driving with your hands behind your back, and you’ve got no grip. Then another race, it’s the other way.“I don’t know why it happens, but today it was one of those for him. But he’s a world champion and a great athlete. He will recover and keep pushing.”"

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But is there any reason to believe that Hamilton’s comments are anything more than mind games?

Mercedes themselves have been known to play mind games in recent seasons, especially with Ferrari. They have proven to be sandbaggers before coming through in the big moments and leaving their rivals in the dust.

Does Hamilton really believe Vettel’s mistakes are “minuscule” and that it “happens to all of us”? Vettel has thrown away enough points and lost enough points relative to Hamilton over the last few seasons to cost himself two championships.

If not for the plethora of unforced errors that he has committed, Vettel could have twice as many championships to his name as Hamilton does right now, and he could be just one championship away from tying Michael Schumacher’s all-time record of seven.

Look at least year alone. He made a far too aggressive move in an attempt to take the lead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix away from Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas that cost him the victory late in the race.

Bottas ended up dropping out of the race a few laps later with a flat tire anyway, while Vettel had to settle for fourth place behind three drivers who passed him as he was trying to recover from his failed attempt to take the lead.

A few races later, Vettel caused a collision in the French Grand Prix with Bottas after starting in third place and trying to take second from the 29-year-old Finn heading into the first turn on the first lap of the race. He ended up having to battle back to finish the race in fifth.

In the race that changed the complexion of the championship battle, the German Grand Prix, Vettel was dominating late and appeared to be well on his way to coasting to a victory. But with 16 laps remaining in the 67-lap race, he crashed.

This crash alone resulted in a massive 38-point swing in favor of Hamilton, a swing that Vettel ultimately failed to come close to recovering from in the championship battle.

Vettel also spun out early in the Italian Grand Prix, the Japanese Grand Prix and the United States Grand Prix, which all ended up being races that he failed to finish on the podium. He finished these three races in fourth, sixth and fourth place, respectively.

Hamilton also stated that he “would say there’s too few of them to really look too much into it” when referring to Vettel’s spins. But including Vettel’s spin in the Bahrain Grand Prix, he has committed unforced errors, including several spins, in seven of the last 19 races.

Lewis, would you mind defining “too few”?

It has become very evident that the only chance Vettel has to beat Hamilton over the course of an entire 21-race season to win a championship is if he eliminates literally all of these kinds of mistakes, and he has shown absolutely no sign of doing that.

It has also become very clear that Vettel is still Ferrari’s prioritized driver, just like he was during the four seasons when he was the teammate to Kimi Raikkonen at the Prancing Horse. Although Leclerc currently sits ahead of him in the driver standings, as Leclerc sits in fourth place and Vettel sits in fifth, Ferrari have prioritized Vettel in both of the season’s first two races.

While the odds of Hamilton’s comments themselves actually affecting Ferrari’s future decisions about their driver lineup and how to go about letting their drivers race one another, it would make complete sense if the 34-year-old Briton is only making these claims with the hope of Ferrari not only retaining Vettel for several more seasons but continuing to treat him as their number one driver.

Because if they do, Hamilton can pretty much count on, at the very least, tying Michael Schumacher’s all-time Formula 1 wins and championships records of 91 and seven, respectively.

Is Lewis Hamilton doing anything more than playing mind games with Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari after Vettel’s most recent spin in this past Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix? Maybe he is being completely sincere. But the facts and figures behind the five-time Formula 1 champion’s claims and the underlying situations surrounding his claims suggest that it is far more than this.