11 January 2024 , 19:30
529
0
McLaren chief Zak Brown thinks Mercedes could thrust Lewis Hamilton right back into the Formula 1 title conversation THIS YEAR.
Adding to his seven world championship successes has not been a realistic target for the Brit in the last two seasons. Red Bull adapted best to new car regulations in 2022 and haven't looked back since.
In contrast, Mercedes have struggled to compete at the sharp end of the grid and have just one race victory to show for the last two years. George Russell took that win, beating Hamilton to the chequered flag in the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Now 39, Hamilton is winless since the Saudi Arabia race in 2021. But not only does Brown believe the Brit can get back to winning ways this year, but he went as far as to claim Mercedes have a chance of thrusting their driver back into title contention.
Speaking to Speedcafe about his McLaren team's progress over the winter, the American said: "We like what we're seeing in the windtunnel and CFD at the moment, so we feel like we're going to take a step forward.
Jake Paul calls on John Fury to make retirement bet for fight with son Tommy
"How much? The great mystery on Red Bull is when did they turn off the development of their car to focus on next year [2024], and I think the answer is probably pretty early, so we'll just have to wait and see how much Adrian Newey magic comes out of the oven, so to speak, to see where we are."
And Brown went on to give his team's other main rivals a chance of entering the title mix. He added: "Mercedes or Ferrari - these teams have everything they need and are great teams and I wouldn't be surprised if we were sitting here and, all of a sudden, Mercedes was back to Lewis winning his eighth championship."
It remains to be seen whether Mercedes' designers will finally crack the code to creating a title-challenging car under the current regulations. But if they can manage that, then 2009 world champion Jenson Button has no doubt Hamilton still has what it takes to become champion.
"When you've won for so many years and then suddenly that's taken away from you, it can work in two different ways," he said. "One, you are just like, 'Well, there's no point anymore, I want to retire, I've been at the peak for so long and now I've not won a race in two years'. But also it can make you more hungry to get back to that, and Lewis is in that position right now, I think.
"Lewis is as good as ever I would say in terms of his outright speed, but also now he seems much more comfortable in himself and confident in his ability, so he makes fewer mistakes. So he's even better now than he was five or six years ago... If he gets a car that's competitive enough to fight for victories, when someone is that strong and that confident in themselves it's difficult to beat, as you can see with Max Verstappen right now."