As the 2022 season was nearing its start, fans were excited to see Red Bull and Mercedes resume the battle. Given how Max Verstappen clinched the title from Lewis Hamilton in 2021, Mercedes were expected to come back stronger. However, as things turned out, the Silver Arrows provided little resistance to Red Bull’s dominant run. Christian Horner has now claimed their rivals were still in 2021’s “hangover”.

Not only did Mercedes fail to pose any challenge to Red Bull’s run, but they also fell behind a resurgent Ferrari. Finishing 3rd in the constructors’ championship, the Brackley-based team could manage only a single race win. Moreover, their star driver, Lewis Hamilton, for the first time in his career, had a winless season.

When GPFans asked RBR team principal Christian Horner if he would have believed the storyline of the 2022 campaign before it began, Horner said, “You would never have believed it.”

“I think that especially off the back of last year, that took so much energy, last year’s championship, and you could see Mercedes had a hangover from that this year.”

When they asked Horner why he felt Mercedes were hungover, he replied, “It was the first time they didn’t have a dominant car.”

“So to be able to beat them last year and to beat them again this year has been an incredible performance,” he added.

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Mercedes’ season may have gone struggling to adapt to FIA’s latest regulations, but they came back to their competitive self in the final few races. Lewis Hamilton too had a great run, which has got Helmut Marko concerned for the 2023 season.

Helmut Marko feels Lewis Hamilton will break the winless streak next year

Mercedes introduced the final set of amendments to the car ahead of the US GP. The results were immediately visible as Lewis Hamilton competed with Max Verstappen for the win. In the following two races in Mexico and Brazil, he finished P2 again. Helmut Marko reacted to the Briton’s resurgent run and next year’s prospects while talking with Sport Bild.

He said, “Ferrari is strong, but Mercedes will be stronger as a whole. Especially with a driver like Lewis Hamilton. He’s still a top pilot. Although Ferrari also has a very good driver in [Charles] Leclerc, he still makes mistakes.” [Translated using Google]

When they asked Marko whether he thinks Lewis’ dry run will continue in 2023, he replied, “Unfortunately I’m afraid not. Mercedes fought their way to us over the year.”

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Did the Silver Arrows fall down the pecking order because they failed to adapt to new regulations? Or, as Christian Horner suggests, did the 2021 championship run fatigue them too much?