GR-EIGHT LEW Coulthard backs Hamilton to
LEWIS HAMILTON will fight to become world champion again – and he will do so at Mercedes, says David Coulthard.
Speculation has been rife that the lukewarm start to the season by both the Silver Arrows and the seven-time title winner means Stevenage ace Hamilton will look elsewhere as he chases the crown that will mark him as the greatest ever.
With contract negotiations over next year still to be finalised and indications that Red Bull are once more the team to catch, rumours are gathering pace that the Brit, 38, could seek pastures new.
But former F1 ace-turned-pundit Coulthard (below) believes that Hamilton will stay put.
He said: “I don’t believe at all that Lewis will do anything other than stay at Mercedes or retire.
“There’s no obvious opening at, say, Ferrari and he’s very much a British man who thrives within that environment.
“I don’t see him at Red Bull. I honestly don’t see Max having any issue – I just don’t think that’s a natural fit for Lewis either.
“Given that, where’s he going to go exactly? Aston Martin? Alpine?
“There are limited opportunities for him elsewhere.
“Does Lewis need another title to confirm him as the greatest the sport has ever seen? In my mind, no.
“I think he’s up there as one of the greats regardless of whether or not he wins another one.
“Does he want another? Of course he does.
“I fully anticipate that he will roll up his sleeves and crack on with it at Mercedes.”
Although Mercedes came within a whisker of recording a podium finish in Saudi Arabia, they were eating dust for the majority of the race as the two
Red Bulls streaked clear.
A good qualifying for
Mercedes in Australia today, with Hamilton third behind team-mate
George Russell and
Verstappen, has been a bright spot.
Team principal Toto Wolff has even gone so far as to question his own suitability to continue in a job where he was the master as Mercedes chalked up a string of title successes.
But Coulthard said the Austrian was simply playing a brilliant media game and added: “We’ve had two races and they were almost on the podium at the last one. Personally, I don’t see it as the doom and gloom that is being projected.
“I respect Toto’s honesty and I think that’s great for all of us involved because he’s not sugar-coating anything.
“He’s saying, ‘We’re not where we expected to be and our performance so far looks like we won’t have a World Championship-winning car.’
“Yes, there are budget caps and everything else, but it’s for them to exploit the resources and brain power they have.that brain power and resource was enough for them to win countless World Championships. I think it’s very much a case of success being a lousy teacher.
“When you are winning all of the time, you don’t have much failure to analyse.
“I respect Toto’s honesty in saying that Mercedes are in a ‘valley of tears’, as he put it.that honesty has to be acknowledged and respected.
“He’s a human being, a great manager and highly successful too. And that doesn’t just stop overnight.”