Mercedes

Mercedes can BEAT Red Bull with unsportsmanlike trick, claims ex-F1 champion

Matthew Hobkinson Saturday 10 June 2023 20:57 Updated: 09:54

Lewis Hamilton talking with his engineers in Monte Carlo

Former Formula 1 world champion Damon Hill has suggested that Mercedes should give up on the rest of the current season in order to ensure they can challenge Red Bull for the 2024 championship.

Mercedes currently find themselves 135 points adrift of Red Bull in the constructors' championship.

Max Verstappen continues to dominate in the RB19 and despite Lewis Hamilton and George Russell making some improvements in Barcelona, the pair still finished 24 and 32 seconds respectively behind the Dutchman.

And Hill now believes that Mercedes should contemplate taking advantage of the fact that the lower a team finishes, the more time they get in the wind tunnel, by throwing away the rest of the season.

Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff will be hoping to have further cause for celebration in Montreal next weekend

"Ironically, the better Mercedes do the less scope they’ve got for the following year," he told the Sky Sports F1 podcast.

"You kind of wonder whether Mercedes ought to be thinking about doing really badly between now and the end of the year.

"I think when you’ve got the budget and you can spend it but you can’t because you did so well the previous season, then it kind of makes you wonder whether you ought to do really badly.

"If you’re not going to win this year, you want to win next year."