Mercedes’ 2023 season has been full of mixed results, with neither Lewis Hamilton nor George Russell taking firm control of their place in the world championship standings. After a season and a half of lurking in Red Bull’s shadows, the Silver Arrows want to get back to winning ways in the 2024 season. However, according to F1 Maximaal, former F1 boss Gary Anderson predicts a gloomy future for Mercedes.
Mercedes is currently in the midst of a battle for P2 in the world championship standings with Ferrari, Aston Martin, and McLaren. They have maintained consistency for a long portion of this campaign, but haven’t gotten the desired results as often as they would have liked. At one point, morale was really high in Brackley as they overtook Aston Martin to claim second spot. Since then, however, Ferrari has risen from the ashes to close the gap to Mercedes to just 20 points.
Still, Mercedes claims that they are excited about the 2024 season. The W14, their current car has been deemed inconsistent by many. As a result, they want to start afresh with their new challenger. Still, Anderson does not trust the direction Mercedes is headed in.
Mercedes have underperformed with the resources at their disposal
Mercedes, winners of the constructors’ championship eight times, is one of the biggest teams in F1. They have a huge budget, a world-class factory, and all the resources in the world at their disposal. Anderson points out that despite that, they have struggled comprehensively both in 2022 and 2023 (so far).
This makes Anderson doubt the team’s potential progress and development. In fact, he feels that Mercedes will have the fourth-fastest car on the grid, which is bad news for Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time world champion recently signed a two-year contract extension with the outfit.
💬 “The end result was a fair representation of where our speed was. We achieved the maximum we could.”
As the fight for P2 in the Constructors’ continues, here’s how some strong racing and a bold strategy helped us split the Ferraris in Suzuka. 👇
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) September 26, 2023
“You would expect one team of Mercedes stature,” Anderson wrote in his column for The Telegraph as per F1 Maximaal. “With the experience and budget the team has to win not to finish fifth and seventh, their car would be during the season improve. But they didn’t.”
Anderson goes on to say that one winter-break won’t be enough for Mercedes to make a complete overhaul.
Lewis Hamilton can’t get back to winning ways in half a year
Currently, Red Bull is the most dominant team in F1. Ferrari, Aston Martin, McLaren and Mercedes are all aiming to rise up and challenge the Austrian squad next season onwards. However, Anderson insists, while talking about Mercedes, that it is not enough for a team to get a complete overhaul with just one winter break.
“They seem to be entering a race weekend without any idea of what to expect,” he added. “If I were on the team I wouldn’t trust that the direction they are taking next year is the right one.”
Hamilton is currently P3 in the championship standings with 190 points to his name. In the remaining few races of the season, the 38-year-old will be looking to get some good results, as he looks to finish P2 in the standings ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
