Toto Wolff has claimed that Lewis Hamilton is still the ‘best driver in the world’ and he can beat Max Verstappen to the Drivers’ Championship title in 2024. However, the Mercedes team principal did accept that doing so depends on his team producing a car worthy of battling Red Bull.
This was something that Mercedes failed to do in 2023 with the W14 proving a frustrating successor to the W13, which was unpopular with both the team principal and drivers Hamilton and George Russell.
The Silver Arrows’ 2023 challenger carried over many of the same problems from its predecessor with unpredictable performance levels and an inconsistent balance making it hard for Hamilton and Russell to find a stable operating window.
Despite the considerable flaws that the W14 possesses, Hamilton’s performances have remained at a characteristically high level. The 38-year-old finished on the podium seven times in 2023 and headed into the final round of the year at the Yas Marina Circuit with third place in the Drivers’ Championship standings already wrapped up.
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“Lewis is still the very best driver in the world,” Wolff explained after the season finale in Abu Dhabi. “If we give him the right car, he will certainly compete for the world title. I have no doubt about that. It is clear that it will be difficult if we have the current car. In that case, you always have good and bad weekends.”
Hamilton can at least take some comfort from the fact that Mercedes managed not to regress in the Constructors’ Championship standings in 2023. The Silver Arrows held onto P2 by just three points thanks to George Russell’s podium finish at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, pipping Ferrari to the vice-champion crown.
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Despite that achievement, Hamilton was feeling pretty downbeat about his chances for next year after the final race of the campaign. “Not particularly,” he told Sky Sports F1 when asked if he could take any satisfaction from his team’s P2 finish.
He added: “At this moment, I don’t really know [about next year]. For Red Bull to win by 17 seconds and they haven’t developed their car since August is definitely a concern. We have learned a lot about the car and it’s just down to the team now. They know what they need to do. Whether or not we will get there, we will see.”
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