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Lewis Hamilton has revealed if Mercedes can continue fighting for victories as F1 prepares to return from its summer break.В?
Mercedes started 2024 having fallen further behind Ferrari and McLaren. The team downplayed expectations at the car’s launch, having abandoned its previous zero-side pod concept in mid-2023.
Both cars retired after a disastrous third race in Australia. The team still stated the W16 was a good car, but the results did not match their optimism. It took until Canada for a Mercedes driver to stand on the podium, with George Russell taking third place.
The team introduced a revised floor in Spain that transformed the car’s handling. Further upgrades arrived in the next few races. These pushed the team forward, taking three victories in the last four races up to the summer break.В? A Mercedes one-two in Belgium turned sour after Russell’s disqualification, handing victory to Hamilton.
Start of a resurgence?
Speaking to formula1.com, Hamilton praised the level of talent at the front of the grid, admitting his surprise at the team’s turnaround in performance:
“It’s really fantastic, I think, for the sport, to be having such close teams and drivers. The pedigree of drivers at the top today are really elite and amazing.
“We didn’t expect to be competing with the McLarens or the Red Bulls at this point in the season, you know, with how we started off, so for us to now have closed up and be… It’s going to be one hell of a second half of the season, for sure.”
Hamilton revealed that if Mercedes can have stronger starts to weekends, the team could continue its victory run:
“But, I mean, if we can continue this kind of performance as we’ve had the last few races, which has been fantastic… I think if we can start our weekends off a little bit better, hopefully we can continue.
“I think, obviously, the McLaren was very strong [in Belgium], we were just a bit further ahead early on [in the race], but yeah, we’ve just got to keep pushing.”
Russell up for the fight
George Russell shared Hamilton’s sentiments, raising further hopes of a resurgence. He stated the competitiveness of other teams is driving Mercedes forward in the second half of the season:
“I think for all of us, it’s been a difficult couple of years getting the car into a place where we can consistently fight for victories, but I’m so motivated, so excited for the second half of the season, which is ultimately building up towards 2025,” he said.
“When you look at the competition now, you know, there’s no reason why we can’t fight, and if the season started in Montreal, the championship standings would be looking very, very different.
“It’s going to be great. I think there’s so much motivation from all the other teams to get back to the front, from McLaren, from Ferrari, from ourselves, so for sure, it’s not going to be easy, and hopefully we see a good fight on our hands into next year.”
Feature Image Credit: Mercedes-Benz Archive