Lewis Hamilton says he is confident Mercedes will be able to win another championship even though there is no end in sight to their struggles in the new rules era, but that the drop in competitiveness has nothing to do with his move to Ferrari.
Hamilton shocked the world of Formula 1 by announcing that he will drive for Ferrari from 2025, and ahead of the start of the new season he hoped that Mercedes was back in the fight for victories so that he could fight for an eighth championship title.
But after the first two races of the season, in which Red Bull took two double wins, it seems that no one but Verstappen has the right to hope for a title fight.
Also, Ferrari seems to be the biggest threat to Red Bull while Mercedes have been battling with McLaren and Aston Martin.
“I’m excited about this year and I know this team is going to win another championship and I’ll be proud to know that I was a part of that,” Hamilton is optimistic.
“Because a lot of things have been set up, in terms of how much more diverse our team is and the process that we’re going through, I’m always going to be a part of that process and that development that the team has gone through in the long term.”
When asked if one of his reasons for signing with Ferrari was that he no longer believed he could win an eighth title with Mercedes, Hamilton was clear.
“No, honestly, it’s not. I truly believe this team, as I mentioned earlier, will win another championship.”
“It’s an amazing group of people and it’s really well run. Mercedes has such an incredible history and, from management down, they’ve ultimately invested heavily in racing in so many areas, whether it’s a championship-winning car or not.”
“It will have no bearing on my opinion of the next phase of my career.”
“Like I said, it’s a new chapter in my life and I really feel like I’ve done everything I can with this team.”
“I am at the end of my career. I love a challenge, and this is the ultimate challenge, really, to go to a team that’s an incredible icon, has an incredible history, but also hasn’t had as much success, I guess, as they’d hoped in the last decade or so.”
“My goal is to beat them this year. And then obviously that changes next year.”
