Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes did not have the season they hoped for in 2022 and 2023 as they suffered from massive underperformance following the introduction of new regulations. As Mercedes now looks to improve things with a concept change, Hamilton can sense nervousness in the Red Bull camp, who were the most dominant side in the last two campaigns.
Speaking about this, Lewis Hamilton said to GP Racing as per F1 Maximal, “You can imagine that Red Bull is also nervous about making too many changes and that they may not turn out to be the right ones.” The sense of nervousness for Red Bull has presumably come after McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes showed signs of improvement in the last few races of the 2023 season.
As for the Silver Arrows, they had a reason to celebrate as they finished in P2 in the Constructors’ Championship, compared to P3 in 2022. They were at times also the second-fastest team on the grid and showed sparks of brilliance despite claiming no wins in 2023.
Nevertheless, with James Allison on the team, Mercedes look to have a massive overhaul [by scraping old concepts]. They hope doing so will help them reduce the massive gap they have against Red Bull. This is because even though they finished in P2 in the Championship in 2023, they only claimed 409 points compared to Red Bull’s 860.
Which teams can cause Red Bull the most trouble in 2024?
Similarly to how Mercedes looks to improve in 2024, so will the likes of Ferrari and McLaren, among others. Compared to these trio, Aston Martin are a little farther. These teams together would look to cause trouble to Red Bull and Max Verstappen’s dominance in 2024.
Among them, McLaren is expected to be the biggest threat to the Austrian team after their remarkable comeback last year. They started their 2023 F1 season in the worst possible way, but their finish to the season was magnificent.
From having zero points after two races, they finished the season in P4, only behind Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari. On the other hand, Ferrari also got back their performance around the later half of the season where they fought neck to neck against Red Bull and claimed multiple pole positions. Moreover, Ferrari were also the only team other than Red Bull to register a victory in 2023 when Carlos Sainz won a famous race in Singapore.
Since Ferrari and McLaren improved significantly by the time the 2023 season concluded, they will be the favorites to challenge Red Bull in 2024. However, Mercedes with their complete overhaul cannot be ruled out from being in the fight as well.
