Max Verstappen’s dominance in the 2023 season has given way to another media war raging between him and Lewis Hamilton, including their teams. The Silver Arrows driver has not won a race since 2021, while the Dutchman is winning almost every race he drives in. As such, the priority of every other team on the grid, especially Mercedes, is to sneak a win from under Red Bull’s and Verstappen’s noses. Addressing the same, Hamilton says he doesn’t want to rely on a mistake by Verstappen or his team to be able to win, as he would rather prefer to outperform the defending world champion.
Throughout the season, Hamilton has opposed the dominance of the RB19 and Verstappen. The Briton believes it leads to the sport becoming boring and monotonous for the fans and kills the competition. Toto Wolff, too, has taken consistent jibes at his team’s arch-rival, the latest of them being a shot at Verstappen’s unbeaten streak, which Wolff believes to be nothing more than a Wikipedia page entry.
Lewis Hamilton wants a Mercedes improvement rather than a Red Bull downfall
Except for Aston Martin, most teams have been hoping for environmental factors to spoil Red Bull and Verstappen’s party. Heading into the back end of the season, two street circuits, three sprint weekends, and several venues with a rain possibility are all that’s left, and the hope within the paddock will be that these factors hinder the Austrian team’s progress.
However, Hamilton does not share this hope, as his expectations from the final eight races of the season are much different.
“I just want to level up all of us. But there’s a lot of opportunity for sure in these next eight races. So just trying to make sure that we are prepared to be there if something does happen to be coming our way. But we remain hopeful for that.”
Despite Hamilton and Verstappen being arch-rivals, the former world champion is appreciative of all that his successor has achieved. He praised the Dutchman and Adrian Newey for an “exceptional job” and wants to take nothing away from the achievement.
Thus, rather than hoping for their downfall, the 38-year-old is in favor of outperforming the Milton Keynes-based outfit.
Winning against Red Bull might not be that easy
As we head into the Singapore Race weekend, Hamilton and Mercedes will face their first challenge in the driver’s 8-race plan. Having won the Singapore GP four times, the Briton will want to turn his season around by winning his fifth race in the country. However, it won’t be too easy for the team, given how their season has been so far.
Speaking about his hopes for the race, Hamilton said he isn’t too sure about what to expect from it. Compared to this year, the Briton feels they were more competitive in the previous season but did not have the best of races in 2022.
So, the hope is to perform better than last year and be able to see the car’s progress. Hamilton says he thinks the team might be able to fight for a podium finish but will be clearer about their possible achievements when he takes the car out on the track. As for the car, the W14 isn’t being looked at as a winning car on any track this season, and while it stands true so far, Mercedes would want to pull out a surprise comeback before the season ends.
