Lewis Hamilton is one of only nine drivers in Formula One drivers this season yet to cost his team any money in terms of damages to their cars – with Williams driver Nicholas Latifi top of the list with £2.22million worth of repairs to his name this season . Haas’ Mick Schumacher is second in the ‘Destructors’ Championship’.
Hamilton is currently seventh in the Drivers’ Championship this term, recording just one podium finish for Mercedes. Even that was due to Red Bull stars Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen failing to finish the Bahrain Grand Prix in the dying embers, and Hamilton’s worst finish for almost a year came on Sunday with a 13th-placed finish in Imola.
It will likely be a long way back to the summit for the Brit, who admitted he is already out of the title race after failing to even break into the points in Italy. But Mercedes chiefs will take solace in the fact that he has yet to cost them any money in terms of damages to the car despite his poor performances.
Hamilton, alongside team-mate George Russell, hasn’t cost his team any extra money while Williams are feeling the heat with over £2.4m in damages to their cars, with the bulk of that coming from the error-prone Latifi according to a thread on Reddit. Latifi has cost Williams £2.22m, with £1.3m of that coming in the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix at the end of March.
However, the Canadian was not the biggest liability in the Middle East, with Schumacher’s high-speed crash which knocked him out unconsciously costing his team £1.8m alone, given the severity of his accident. In fact, the son of racing legend Michael damaged everything on his vehicle bar the monocoque in what was the most expensive setback of the season.
However, nine drivers have yet to cost their team a penny so far this season. Russell, Perez, Verstappen and Hamilton alongside Yuki Tsunoda, Kevin Magnussen, Valtteri Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon are those in question, having yet to suffer any costly errors.
As a result, Red Bull and Mercedes are the only two teams yet to take any damage, which can only bode well for the rest of the season. The next race takes place in Miami on May 8, which will be the first edition of the United States event.
