Former F1 driver Nico Rosberg has backed his former Mercedes’ teammate Lewis Hamilton to challenge for the title next year, as reported by RacingNews365. In an interview with DailyMail, Nico Rosberg talked about the dominance of Mercedes in previous years and said that the team will make a comeback in 2024.
“We’ve seen flashes of brilliance from the Mercedes team just recently. They lack consistency. But look at Austin. They were challenging for the win there and actually had the fastest car over the weekend”, Rosberg said.
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He continued, “So we’ve seen that they’re starting to understand the car, and they just have the problem that you still lack consistency. They still lack in straight-line performance, but they are starting to understand all that.”
“I believe in Mercedes’ ability because I was there. I know how strong they are. It’s always still the same people. So certainly there is a chance that Hamilton could once again fight for the championship next year.”
A Bad 2 Seasons
Mercedes have endured a terrible 2 seasons in Formula 1 by their standards. They finished third last year, and are currently second. By all accounts, these are great seasons. However, for a team that won 8 constructors’ titles from 2014 to 2021, both these seasons are failures.
After Mercedes’ disastrous performance in Brazil, Toto Wolff even said this car doesn’t deserve a win. Meanwhile, Red Bull and Max Verstappen have swept away Formula 1. They have hoovered up all the wins and records.
Despite having an off-pace Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton managed to keep himself in the hunt for 2nd place in the drivers’ championship till the Las Vegas GP.