We are only a few days away from the start of the first race weekend of the season. As Melbourne and the sun-drenched Albert Park draw ever closer, the statements of the main players regarding the expectations for next season are intensifying. As always, Ferrari is causing the most buzz with its star-studded driver line-up of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton , which was also commented on by Red Bull’s advisor Dr. Helmut Marko.
“Leclerc was a much faster driver in Bahrain, but that’s normal. He knows the team and the car. Hamilton did a lot of laps and gradually improved, but not enough to be at Leclerc’s level.”
“It’s only the first race and if the whole environment is right, we know Hamilton can make incredible progress.” Given that a fairly tight grid order is expected among the top four teams, qualifying for the race will also be of great importance. As for Ferrari, in the first year of the ground-effect rule they achieved a total of 12 pole positions, in the second 7, and last year only 4 starts from the top of the column.
“One driver is a multiple world champion, the other is looking for his first title, but at the same time he is one of the best qualifiers. Precisely because the entire grid is quite close, three or four tenths can bring a move of three to five places in the standings.” What kind of Hamilton will we see at Ferrari? After three difficult and demotivating seasons at Mercedes for the British driver, Ferrari may offer him new inspiration. But Marko warns:
“He went to Ferrari voluntarily. He was looking for a new challenge and it seems to me that he will do everything to meet expectations.”
“Hamilton can improve tremendously, but he could also lose motivation if certain factors don’t align and if he sees he has no chance of winning.” Lewis Hamilton won his last title in 2020. The following year, he had a great chance to win a record eighth title, which he lost in a clash with Max Verstappen in that iconic race in Abu Dhabi. We will know much more about Lewis’s capabilities and his inspiration after a few races in the new season.
