Hamilton needs to produce better qualifying performances: Coulthard

Former Formula One (F1) driver David Coulthard feels Lewis Hamilton needs to improve his qualifying performances and have a good second half of the season to show he has still got it, as the F1 caravan regroups this weekend in Zandvoort for the Dutch GP.

“Lewis is not as quick in qualifying as Charles (Leclerc so far), and therefore, he hasn’t been on the grid in the right place. You race where you qualify. If you qualify at the front, you race at the front; if you qualify in the middle, that’s where you race. It is very difficult to race to the front unless you’ve had a technical issue in qualifying,” said Coulthard in a media interaction organised by FanCode.

After 14 rounds, Leclerc leads Hamilton 151-109 in the inter-Ferrari battle.

“So I’m nervously watching the second half of the season to see whether Lewis, we all know has been there in the past, can return.

“ If he continues to be second-best in the team between now and the end of the year, then all hope goes out that the new regulations next year will suddenly feel very different and work for him.

“If it doesn’t, then it’s over,” added the 13-time Grand Prix winner.

Commenting on this year’s driver’s title between McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, Coulthard opined that his former team might slightly lean towards the latter since he has been there for seven years.

“In many ways, it feels that Lando would be, let’s say, the McLaren subconscious favourite because of having been there for longer, and he’s built his profile from a media point of view over more years. But you cannot deny Oscar’s performance.”

“If we apply the data, Oscar is leading at the halfway stage.

“He’s there not by luck, but by results.

“So based on what we’ve seen so far, you would say he will win the World Championship. It’s so tight, it could go all the way,” said Coulthard.

(FanCode is the official broadcaster for F1 in India)