Fuelling Around podcast: Former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley on why Lewis Hamilton has struggled this year
Former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley appears on the award-winning podcast Fuelling Around to discuss this season’s Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship, his career and what it’s like working in the sport.
Priestley started working for McLaren in 1999 at the Australian Grand Prix but left at the end of the 2009 season to focus on his media career.
The Formula 1 personality sat down with Jason Plato and Dave Vitty to discuss what he’s been up to in recent years, his thoughts on Lewis Hamilton joining Ferrari and his time in the paddock.
Marc Priestley on Lewis Hamilton joining Ferrari in 2025
During a wide-ranging chat, Priestley explained why he thinks Hamilton has struggled in the Mercedes car this year and why Ferrari have signed him instead of renewing Carlos Sainz’s deal.
“I think he (Carlos Sainz) has had the best year of his life,” Priestley revealed.
“It’s hard though because through no fault of his own, he’s not been dropped because of his performances, he got dropped purely because they (Ferrari) had an opportunity to sign a seven-time world champion and you get that and understand it.
“I think fans will look at the decision at Ferrari and they’ll say ‘Look at Lewis’ performances right now, and then look at Carlos’ performance right now, they’ve made a terrible mistake at Ferrari and they should’ve stuck with Carlos.’
“And to some extent, in terms of the longer performance of Ferrari, Carlos has got a bit more longevity in him than Lewis has. I think we can all agree on that.
“But Lewis’ performance this year in the Mercedes has clearly disappeared, and it’s clearly disappeared even in comparison to his own team-mate (George Russell) particularly in qualifying. He just cannot match him.
“I’ve always had this theory about Formula 1 drivers and I can probably apply it to Daniel Ricciardo in recent times, maybe even Sergio Perez in the Red Bull which we know is a good car – they’re so specific modern Formula 1 cars in terms of how they need to be driven.
“Particularly this new generation of cars, is it just a case that a certain type of car’s characteristic doesn’t suit a particular driver’s driving style, and some of them find it hard to adapt to that.
“It’s not like Lewis has lost talent, just is it this particular car doesn’t suit the way that he drives?”
Plenty more episodes of Fuelling Around to enjoy
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