Lewis Hamilton is currently feeling considerably more optimistic about Mercedes’ probability of winning a race in 2022 than he was earlier in the season.
Following latest indications of improvement, Lewis Hamilton says he now “really thinks” that Mercedes can claim a victory in 2022.
The Silver Arrows had a rough beinning of the season, which led Toto Wolff to say in June that “That train left the station a long time ago” regarding their chances of winning the championship.
Similarly, Hamilton is open about the fact that he had his doubts about the squad’s ability to win during their pretty difficult weekends early in the year.
“Earlier this year, [I] definitely wasn’t sure we’d ever get a win in this car,” Hamilton told media, including RacingNews365.com, over the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.
“Obviously, that’s not the way we like to think, but it was feeling like, ‘Jesus, it’s a long, long way to catch everyone up, knowing the progress everyone makes’.”
Hamilton is motivated by the signs of development
Hamilton is feeling considerably more optimistic about the squad’s chances as a result of Mercedes showing signs of progress at previous races.
“[It’s] definitely [been] hugely encouraging,” the seven-time World Champion acknowledged.
“Particularly [because] for a long, long time, we would make changes and not see it do what [we thought] it was going to do or improve the car.
“It was a good step in Barcelona, but then we had several difficult races following it.
“Then we just had these last [few] races which were quite strong, and that’s really encouraged us that we’re moving in the right direction, that there really is potential in the car.”
Hamilton believes that climbing to the top of the podium will be the next stage.
“With a little bit more digging, a little bit more hard work, hopefully we can get a bit closer to having a chance of winning a race,” he added.
“So I truly believe we can get a race win this year.”
Recent winning prospects need “everything to align”
At the British Grand Prix, Hamilton appeared to be in contention for the triumph, but he ultimately placed third as Carlos Sainz won the race for the first time.
The British driver acknowledges that other circumstances would have needed to be favourable in addition to the car’s recent performance for them to triumph.
“[At] Silverstone, there was definitely potential to win the race,” Hamilton explained.
“But with our current performance, we’re not on exactly the same levels as the two teams ahead.
“We needed everything to align, so we didn’t need that Safety Car at the end. We needed not to have lost the time in the pit-stop.
“In a perfect world, if we didn’t have the crash at the beginning, I would have been third.
“I feel like things happen for a reason. I think it was Carlos’ weekend. It was written that he would get his first win there, which I’m really happy for him.”
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F1, F1 2022, Formula 1, French GP, Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Silver Arrows, Toto Wolff