Lewis Hamilton has had a tough start to his 2022 season. The 7-time world champion was looking to bounce back from the disappointment of the 2021 Abu Dhabi season finale much stronger. But because of the regulations change brought in this season that 2022 cars differ vastly from their predecessors.

The Mercedes is currently the 3rd fastest car on the grid. This has meant that the team could only manage two podiums in the first 3 races of the season with Hamilton just securing one.

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But the Mercedes driver mentioned he is optimistic that the team can bounce back this season. Lewis mentioned that he’s confident that Mercedes would continue to develop and get faster as the season progresses.

Lewis Hamilton is optimistic that he can fight for the championship in 2022

The British driver is currently sitting 5th in the driver’s championship with 28 points after the first three races of the season. But as Hamilton mentioned, there are still 20 races left this season for him to mount a comeback.

“I prefer to stay optimistic. There are 20 races still to go. If you think realistically with the way our sport goes, the top teams often develop at a similar rate. Will that be the case with this new car? Who knows? But I’m really, really hoping we can get in the fight,” said Lewis.

“But with every bit of improvement we make, they [Ferrari] and Red Bull will probably make a similar sort of steps, so it’s not going to be easy. And yes, the gap is pretty big right now, but there’s a long way to go,” said the Mercedes driver.

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It would be foolish for everyone to count out Hamilton and Mercedes despite their struggles this season. The team and the driver have a tendency to bounce back stronger than anyone expected and fight till the end.

But it would be some feet from the German team to get back into the championship to challenge the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull. It would be amazing to see Hamilton battling against Verstappen and Leclerc at the front of the grid in the 2022 season. But it would take a lot of time for the German team to get on track this season.