Hamilton and Mercedes admit ‘Everest to climb’ to beat Red Bull next year
Lewis Hamilton issued a downbeat assessment of his chances of competing against Red Bull in the Formula One world championship next year after this season came to a close in Abu Dhabi.
Hamilton’s Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, also conceded the task that lay ahead was “a Mount Everest to climb”.
Max Verstappen won at the Yas Marina circuit to secure his 19th victory in 22 races. He and Red Bull have been untouchable this season. Hamilton could manage only ninth and has now gone more than two full seasons without a win.
The seven-time champion believes the advantage Red Bull hold will be hard to overcome, especially given how early they stopped working on this year’s car and shifted resources to next year’s model.
“Red Bull won by 17 seconds and they have not touched the car since August or July,” Hamilton said. “So you can pretty much guess where they’re going to be next year.”
The British driver was clearly despondent at the end of a trying season in an uncompetitive car. “It’s not been a great year in general so there’s not a lot to take from it,” he said. “The fact that I survived it. That’s probably about it.”
Despite claiming second in the constructors’ championship in Abu
Dhabi and with the team adopting a new design philosophy for next year, Wolff was similarly blunt in his assessment of Red Bull’s advantage as the teams go into the close season.
“There is a Mount Everest to climb in order to catch up with Red Bull,”
Wolff said. “Red Bull started the new regulations in 2022 with a massive advantage and they have been able to maintain it.
“We have a lot of respect for their achievements, from the engineering side, and the driver. Beating them under the current regulations is against the odds.”
Verstappen, who has enjoyed the most dominant season in F1 history, acknowledged it had been an unparalleled success but one he was not sure could ever be repeated. “It’s been an incredible season, it was a bit emotional on the in-lap, it was the last time sitting in the car which has of course given me a lot,” he said.
“It will be very hard to have another season like this, we know that. Of course, you always want to do better but sometimes doing better is not only race wins and potentially winning the championship, we will see. We are working hard for next year to again have a very competitive car.”
Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, noted pointedly that winning 21 of 22 races meant there was still “room for improvement” but he paid tribute to the efforts of his team. “It’s all about winning,” he said.
“We still operate as an old school race team, we push the limits and we push ourselves. Nobody wants to let the side down. That unrelenting desire and spirit within the team enables these results.”