Hamilton Not To Be Underestimated As He Can Give Verstappen 'Run For His Money'

Friday, 22 December 2023 at 07:00

Former Red Bull Racing driver Christian Klien recently rated Mercedes's and Lewis Hamilton's chances to compete for the title in the 2024 season.

The Mercedes F1 team has won one Grand Prix in the last two seasons, and it hasn't been in 2023. The German team made a few bad decisions and could not compete with Red Bull for two whole seasons as a result.

However, Silver Arrows promised big changes to their car going into 2024 and suggested the results from simulations look promising so far.

Drastically changing the development direction can lead to huge gains, but it is also a significant risk. Former F1 racing driver Christian Klien told RacingNews365:

"They have to start from scratch, That's tricky, you have to know the direction you are going. Hopefully, they've got enough ideas and collected enough data to create a new car that works perfectly under these regulations."

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The seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton was beaten by his teammate George Russell in 2022. However, in 2023, he stepped up his game and beat his British teammate by 59 points in the Championship. Klien said:

"This year Hamilton was much better than Russell. Last year the roles were reversed. Maybe Hamilton was not 100 percent motivated last year, because he was a seven-time World Champion with a car that was not performing."

The 38-year-old seemed to have found motivation throughout the 2023 season and displayed a few unbelievable performances, such as the pole position at Hungaroring or the chase of Max Verstappen in Austin.

The former Red Bull driver warned that the Mercedes driver should not be underestimated as we know he can perform very well when he gets the opportunity to drive the right car.

"You should not underestimate Lewis. He is a top-class driver. He hasn't lost any of his qualities. A bit like Fernando Alonso - give him the right car and he'll show what he's able to do. If he has the right car and finds extra motivation, then he can definitely be one who gives Max a run for his money."