Following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton is aware that F1 rival Max Verstappen’s fate is set.
Following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton expressed his “concern” about Red Bull, casting serious doubt on his chances of winning the Formula 1 title in 2024.
Max Verstappen won the race once more, as Red Bull secured its 21st victory of 2023 to top off an incredible season. Mercedes, the opposition team, finished the season without a win for the first time in twelve years, despite managing to finish second in the championship.
It’s now been two full years since Hamilton last won a race. And he had a miserable campaign finale, finishing only ninth in the season-ending race in Abu Dhabi and seventh in the Grand Prix of Las Vegas.
No wonder, then, he cut a frustrated and glum figure as he completed his post-race media duties. Asked what his mood was, he simply replied: “Not great – I just finished ninth. Two really bad races.
However, it appears that what the 2024 season holds is his major worry. In addition to wanting to break his protracted losing streak, Hamilton will be itching to return to a championship match for the first time since he was denied an eighth title in 2021.
But if that will be doable, he is unsure. “Red Bull won by seventeen seconds and haven’t touched the car since August,” he stated. Therefore, you can pretty much predict where they’ll be in a year or two. Simply put, I moved slowly the entire race.”
The British driver was making reference to Red Bull’s most recent RB19 update, which occurred at the end of August during the Dutch Grand Prix. Since then, all their car development efforts have been directed towards their 2024 machine while other teams that still had things to fight for had to wait before they made a similar switch.
It certainly gives Red Bull an advantage to have had a head-start on next season’s car and Hamilton is worried that it will mean another year of Verstappen and his team dominating the grid. If the 38-year-old is to be in the fight again, he needs his team to make an extraordinary performance jump over the winter.
Asked what he and Mercedes might be able to learn from the 2023 season which has provided such little joy, Hamilton replied: “Not too much really. It’s not been a great year in general. So, there’s not a lot to take from the year. The fact that I survived it… that’s about it.
“[Red Bull] haven’t even developed their car since August – it’s definitely a concern. But we’ve learned a lot about the car and it’s just down to the team now and they know what they need to do. Whether or not we’ll get there, we’ll see.”
