Hamilton hopes for five-team battle from 2023

The 2022 season will not have been the big upheaval expected. Despite the new technical regulations, the hierarchy has not changed significantly compared to 2021. Worse, one team dominated the debates head and shoulders: Red Bull, victorious 17 times out of the 22 Grands Prix contested. The suspense at the championship was cut short, with the coronation of Verstappen at Suzuka and the title for Red Bull in Austin. Behind, Ferrari collected the crumbs, while Mercedes is having a complicated year with only one victory, that of George Russell at Interlagos.

Mercedes' return to the top, “a question of leadership”

A complicated season for the Silver Arrows, who did not succeed in this transition between 2021 and 2022. The aerodynamic concept chosen by the German team was not the right one and the W13, despite good reliability and performance increasing over the Grands Prix, has never won in the race. Lewis Hamilton also experienced his first virgin season in victory since his arrival in Formula 1, in 2007. The seven-time world champion is not worried about the seasons to come, which he hopes will be more glorious than 2022.

“We clearly make mistakes because we are human, underlined Lewis Hamilton. Ferrari has people who have been there for more than 20 years and we really naturally have a lot of strength in depth. It's a question of leadership. We have incredible support from the Daimler board of directors who love competition. They are passionate. There is great communication throughout the organization”, explained the British pilot.

According to him, success will return to Mercedes thanks to teamwork between drivers, engineers and directors under the baton of Toto wolff, whose qualities Hamilton praises. “Toto is a leader, determined to bring out the best in everyone, assures the Briton. I don't know any other leader I've worked with who comes up to me and says, 'How's it going at home? How can I help you to support yourself better, so that you have more time with your partner, with your children, so that you are happier and want to engage more?' Toto is like that. Thanks to that, there is real determination in the team. It's a combination of all that. »

A five-team battle from 2023? Hamilton wants it!

On a sporting level, if Lewis Hamilton is confident about his team's abilities to return to the top, he also hopes that other competitors will join the battle with Red Bull. “I would like to think that we will be the ones to compete with [Red Bull] and that we will be able to beat them again, I am sure of that, confided the record holder for victories in F1. But I really hope that Ferrari will be strong in the years to come. They've had a tough few years but there have been some positive signs, which has been nice to see. I hope it will be more than a two-person battle next year, that there will be at least three of us. And why not more? For example, why McLaren couldn't she be there? Or even Alpine, who is doing very well! » For Lewis Hamilton, with the hill in his teeth and motivated by the momentum at the end of the 2022 season, the appointment has already been made in 2023!

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