Hamilton discovers Mercedes deadline to challenge Max Verstappen and Red Bull
Mercedes bosses are confident the Silver Arrows will challenge Red Bull for both world championship titles next season.
Red Bull have dominated the sport this year, winning every single race so far this campaign. Their star driver Max Verstappen is also the runaway leader in the drivers' championship, currently holding a lead of 138 points over team-mate Sergio Perez, who is his closest challenger.
Aston Martin, Mercedes and McLaren have all challenged for the spot of being the runner-up constructor this term. And the German team are confident they can take a big step next season to return to their former place of being title contenders.
“Well, we certainly don’t think like that, because our ambition is to be challenging for a championship next year,” trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said, despite the Silver Arrows being 285 points behind Red Bull in the constructors' standings.
“So we’re optimistic that we can do that. If you look at the step that McLaren have made, it shows that you can make big steps and we’re still understanding a lot about these regulations.
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“Where we were with this car and in the constraints of the cost cap, we realised we’re not going to be able to shut down that gap to Red Bull this year, but our entire focus is on making sure we can challenge the next year.”
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Lewis Hamilton has been boosted by a positive Mercedes update (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Shovlin's optimistic outlook will certainly please star driver Lewis Hamilton, who has only managed four podium finishes this year. The British star finished sixth in the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday, leading to him boldy claiming he feels ready to challenge Verstappen.
“I feel really good. I think I didn’t really know how today was going to go and I sat here last night just really wracking my brain, just thinking where did we go wrong, and how did we end up in this position," he told Sky Sports.
“When that rain came out as a team, we made the wrong decision. Ultimately it was the team’s call, and we paid the price for that. And then we came out last, and then after that I was just chasing, kept my head down.
“A really good example of when you fall or stumble to get back up and keep trying. And every time I had to pit, I came out behind and just kept just chasing and chasing. I was really happy…. I got past the McLaren for example which on this track was not easy to do.
“I think today, in those conditions, if we had made the right call, I had the pace to be challenging the top two. I think we would’ve been challenging Max [Verstappen] if I’m really honest. Particularly when we got to the dry, pace wise, we weren’t terribly far off.”
The F1 circus now swings into Monza, for the Italian Grand Prix, with Hamilton looking to overtake Fernando Alonso in the drivers' standings. He is currently 10 points adrift of the Spaniard heading into a track where he finished fifth last season.
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