Closing the gap
Lewis Hamilton will remain active in Formula 1 for another two seasons with the Mercedes team, but he wonders whether he can compete at the front again next year. According to the Brit, it will be a huge task to catch up with Red Bull, while other competition is also looming.
If things continue like this, Lewis Hamilton will soon be unable to win in Formula 1 for the second season in a row. That takes some getting used to for the seven-time world champion, who was the first to cross the finish line every year until the 2022 season. Mercedes may have even worse prospects this year for a possible attack on Red Bull and that is why Hamilton does not yet estimate his chances for next season to be particularly high. After all, Red Bull is still miles ahead, as was evident again in Japan. “I have no idea where our car will be next year, but we are very, very far behind,” Hamilton said ESPN.
According to the 103-time GP winner, the assignment is clear: Mercedes must come with a better car. With Max Verstappen’s dominant display in Suzuka in mind, he does not yet rate the chances that Mercedes will close the gap for next year: “The next six months should be the best six months in terms of development that we have ever had, We want to close that gap.” A monumental task according to the Brit, but one that he believes his team can handle: “I really believe my team can do this.” According to him, this requires a different basic design of the car, because according to him Mercedes is very good at ‘adding’ downforce, but that is counterproductive with the current car. “Then he will just bounce more.” In that respect, Hamilton is impressed by his old team, McLaren. This often performs better than the Mercedes team. “We need to look at what they have done and move in that direction as well.”
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl