Lewis Hamilton backed to break woeful Mercedes F1 streak

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Hamilton backed to break woeful Mercedes F1 streak

The seven-time F1 champion will be eager to get back to winning ways next year

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Tuesday 2 January 2024 17:57 Updated: 19:15

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Formula 1 pundit Lawrence Barretto has predicted that Lewis Hamilton will return to winning ways at Mercedes in 2024 – but another world championship will remain out of his grasp.

A season without Mercedes winning a single F1 race would have been unthinkable a few seasons ago.

Yet that was the reality that Hamilton, George Russell and Toto Wolff faced as the curtain came down in Abu Dhabi at the end of 2023.

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Russell's triumph in Brazil in 2022 – their sole victory that year – is the last time that the Silver Arrows won a race, with Red Bull and Max Verstappen dominating the sport in recent seasons.

Lewis Hamilton finished the 2023 season third in the drivers' championship

The Mercedes star could not surpass Sergio Perez (L) and Max Verstappen (R)

The 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was Hamilton's last victory in the sport

But Barretto believes that Hamilton could be set to return to the very top step after what he saw as the 38-year-old outperforming his W14 last year.

Hamilton to win an F1 race in 2024?

"The 2023 campaign was a far better one for Lewis Hamilton as, while he didn’t score a win for the second year in a row, the seven-time world champion did get more out of his Silver Arrow than it really deserved to secure P3," he wrote for the official F1 site.

"That he was in the fight for P2 – which would have meant beating one of the all-conquering Red Bulls – for much of the year showed how much fight he still has.

"There were flashes of his brilliant best, too, such as his sensational pole in Hungary and drive to second in Austin [before his post-race disqualification] and Mexico.

Both Hamilton (L) and Charles Leclerc (R) were disqualified from the United States Grand Prix in Austin

"Mercedes have finally abandoned the concept that has made the first two years of the latest rules cycle an abject misery but Hamilton believes the team finally 'have a North Star' that he will hope can yield a return towards the form that delivered eight constructors’ championship on the bounce from 2014.

"I expect Hamilton, who will start the first of a new two-year deal next season, to revel in a car that the team hope is more drivable, predictable and – more importantly – faster.

"While a championship fight is almost certainly out of the question, that kind of step should end his two-year absence for a victory."

Red Bull Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Formula 1 Sergio Perez