
via Imago
Max Verstappen Oracle Red Bull Racing. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Albert Park Circuit on. April 1, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by HOCH ZWEI) Melbourne Australia

via Imago
Max Verstappen Oracle Red Bull Racing. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Albert Park Circuit on. April 1, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by HOCH ZWEI) Melbourne Australia
A prolonged era of dominance is a real aspect of Formula 1 and those who deny it, let us prove you wrong. In recent times, Red Bull enjoyed a few dominant years from 2010 to 2013. Post-2013, in the hybrid era, Mercedes shone with their machinery, winning seven drivers and eight constructors’ championship titles. This era of dominance by the German team and Lewis Hamilton came to a close once the 2022 regulations were introduced. Red Bull built a vastly superior car to its competitors and Max Verstappen is running rampant with it. Now, Hamilton fears, this will be the case for a long time or until the new regulations change the dynamics.

via Imago
F1 2023 Rolex Australian Grand Prix Max Verstappen of Netherlands, Oracle Red Bull Racing. Lewis Hamilton of United Kingdom, Mercedes – AMG PETRONAS. During the Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix of FIA. Formula One World Championship, Albert Park Circuit, in Melbourne, Australia. PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxFRA Copyright: xGongorax originalFilename:bonilla-f12023au230402_np6EF.jpg
Hamilton communicated this fear after the Miami GP while speaking to the media, as quoted by Express. “All I can say is that we’re working as hard as we can to close up and get back and give them more of a fight,” said Hamilton.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
“It’s just unfortunate that we still see the same sort of gaps between the teams. I don’t know what the solution is for the future, but we are going to have to adapt to these regulations. Otherwise, it could be the same as it is now for years,” he confessed.
Read More: Lewis Hamilton’s Rejection of Max Verstappen Exposes Bigger Issues to Leave Fans Concerned
Verstappen is definitely faster than the rest of the field and by a margin. In fact, some even believe he would be faster in equal machinery. However, that cannot be put to the test because of the poor state of the Mercedes machinery. A car, that not only Hamilton but Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes is in shambles.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Toto Wolff backs the concerning belief of Lewis Hamilton
Wolff has been advocating the zero pod concept and putting his faith in his engineers from the start of the 2022 season. However, when the team started the 2023 season on the same note as the previous one, the narrative quickly changed. Now no one, including Wolff, is shying away from discrediting the car looking forward to a massive upgrade.

via Imago
HAMILTON Lewis (gbr), Mercedes AMG F1 Team W13, portrait with WOLFF Toto (aut), Team Principal & CEO of Mercedes AMG F1 Team during the Formula 1 Lenovo Grand Prix de France, French Grand Prix 2022, 12th round of the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship, WM, Weltmeisterschaft from July 22 to 24, 2022 on the Circuit Paul Ricard, in Le Castellet, France – F1 – FRENCH GRAND PRIX 2022 DPPI/Panoramic PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxFRAxITAxBEL F12022GP12FRA_JK66815
Wolff said, “I think that the car is not a nice car, not a good car. It’s the pace, the performance of the car, it’s the lack of understanding of the car [about why] it is not delivering. It is the full spread of activities. I would say the performance is just really bad. It’s a lack of comprehension of what it is that makes this car such a nasty piece of work.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
WATCH THIS STORY: Will Lewis Hamilton Consider a Move to Ferrari if Mercedes Doesn’t Deliver?
These massive upgrades will be revealed next race weekend in Imola. Will it be enough to bring Mercedes close to Red Bull? No one can know for sure but there are definitely a lot of high expectations riding on the team for the weekend in Imola.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT