Lewis Hamilton Maps What Mercedes Needs to be in Mix With Red Bull as 2024 Plans Get Unveiled

Mercedes are all set to bring their “last significant upgrade” of the 2023 season to this weekend’s race in Austin. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff hopes that this upgrade will help in setting his team’s “development path for W15“. As the Silver Arrows continue to put in efforts to reduce the gap to Red Bull, Lewis Hamilton has now revealed how long his side will take to do so.

The Milton Keynes outfit have been in a world of domination of their own as they have won 16 of the 17 races so far. In stark contrast, Mercedes have failed to win a single race this season. Despite the Silver Arrows finding themselves so far away from Red Bull, Hamilton yet believes that his side can recover the gap.

Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes can become “super competitive“

After clocking in the third-fastest lap time during the United States Grand Prix qualifying session on Friday, Lewis Hamilton was full of optimism during his press conference. The Briton explained how Mercedes are only a few upgrades away from becoming “super competitive“.

When asked if he feels positive about the upgrade Mercedes have brought to Austin this weekend, the 38-year-old said (as quoted by fia.com), “This is an improvement. This is one of the first upgrades that I’ve actually felt over the last two years. So that’s, that’s a positive and we just need two or three times this step to put us in, you know, super competitive mode, which I believe the guys can do“.

While Hamilton and Mercedes do seem to have an understanding of how they will make further progress going into the 2024 season, so do Red Bull. Adrian Newey has provided an update about the RB20 that is likely to worry all of Red Bull’s rivals.

Newey believes it is unlikely any team will catch up to Red Bull

In the most recent episode of the Formula for Success podcast, Eddie Jordan revealed the conversation he had with Adrian Newey about the RB20. The Irish businessman stated that after he met the Briton at a recent function, the 64-year-old told him that the RB20 is likely to be even stronger than the RB19.

“Adrian tells me that he feels that the evolution of what they’ve got at the moment is going to be so difficult for anyone to catch up with. So, please, folks out there, prepare yourself either for a boring time or an exciting time, depending on whether you’re a Red Bull fan or not,” explained Jordan.

This is likely to be a worrying sign for Red Bull’s rivals, who were expecting to close the gap to the Milton Keynes outfit. With Red Bull having already registered 16 wins out of 17 races this year, it would indeed be very difficult for anyone to catch up to them if they improve the car even further.