Mercedes’ 2022 challenger brought nothing but pain for the team and its drivers. The troubles of the W13 left many into thinking that Lewis Hamilton would walk away from the sport.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner spoke about the situation of his rivals in Drive to Survive. The Briton conceded that if Hamilton chooses to retire, he would leave the Mercedes in s***.
Horner and Mercedes’ team boss Toto Wolff share a contentious relationship with the duo. They do not see each other eye-to-eye on most issues.
Their rivalry reached the tipping point in the 2021 season when their drivers battled for the title and has ever since been on a drastic trajectory.
In 2022 when the Mercedes struggled with their car, Horner could not help but enjoy seeing the Brackley-based team failing.
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Christian Horner discusses the possibility of Mercedes star retiring
Mercedes played a crucial role in the 2022 season to address the problems of porpoising in the car. In the second episode of Drive to Survive Season 5, Wolff said that ‘all the teams are playing a dangerous game’ by ignoring the issue of porpoising during the Team Principals’ meeting at the Canadian GP.
This turned into a heated argument with Horner snapping back at his rival saying, ‘You’ve got a problem, change your f**king car.’
The most drastic effects of the porpoising were felt by Hamilton. After the race in Baku 2022, the 7-time world champion had trouble getting out of the car and suffered severe back pain for days.
This led many into believing that maybe this would be the final season of Hamilton’s F1 career. Horner discussed this possibility on Drive to Survive and said that if Hamilton retires, what are Wolff’s options?
Who could replace Lewis Hamilton?
Currently, the 7-time world champion has no plans to retire from the sport and is looking to sign a new contract with the Silver Arrows to extend his stay in F1.
Still, there have been a lot of speculations about who would be his possible replacement at the Silver Arrows.
After getting sacked by Haas, Mick Schumacher joined Mercedes as their reserve driver. Since the German already has two years of experience driving an F1 car, it won’t be much difficult for him to get back to racing.
Combined with that the training that he will get at Mercedes during his reserve years will make him an interesting prospect for the team.
Apart from him, the Brackley-based team has been linked to Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris as their possible choices.
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