Coulthard backs Hamilton and Mercedes for continued success

Former Formula One star David Coulthard thinks that Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes remain the favourites to claim the driver's and constructor's world championship titles again in the 2018 season, but admits he was excited by the record lap times recorded by Ferrari in testing in Barcelona.

Hamilton is currently on four championships and going for a fifth, while Mercedes are aiming to claim their fifth title in a row.

Coulthard believes that with the impressive power unit they have, and with Hamilton behind the wheel, they remain favourites for 2018 and likened this current period of dominance to that of McLaren in the 80s or Williams in the 90s.

“The form guide would show Lewis and Mercedes as being the leaders, and, with an ability to pick up where they left off from the previous season," Coulthard explained,

"A lot of that is powered – excusing the pun – by the fact they have had the most efficient and reliable hybrid power unit. And they’ve had a good chassis as well. But then it’s down to driver ability and desire. And Lewis has those qualities in abundance.

"You get these periods where you get a level of dominance in the sport – be it McLaren of the late 80s, Williams in the 90s, and Red Bull not so long ago – when you get three or four years of one manufacturer being ahead of the rest. Right now, it’s Mercedes’ time."

The Scot reckons that, due to the power of the Mercedes engine, Valtteri Bottas could emerge as a threat to Hamilton, but admitted that the driver will need to step up his game for the upcoming season.

“That would make his team-mate Valtteri Bottas a potential threat. He does have the same equipment, but does he have that will to win?" Coulthard continued.

"Bottas isn’t the new boy now. He’s had a year with the team, they know each other now. Lewis has been there for years; he’ll swing past the garage, say what he thinks he needs, and goes and does it, because he was, and is, the No 1.

“It takes drivers new to a team a year to build up that kind of relationship. It isn’t inconceivable that, given the car he has under him, that Bottas becomes a threat to Lewis’ dominance, not just in the team but on the grid.

“Mercedes themselves will have an eye on Bottas stepping up. If Lewis didn’t win or finish, they’d want Valtteri there, not a Ferrari or a Red Bull. However, that is a possibility. Because it does feel – looking at the winter testing and the regulations being in their fifth year – we could get a closing up of the grid.

Coulthard will be on our television screens for the majority of the upcoming campaign as he continues his F1 punditry commitments with Channel Four in the UK.