The top of Crimson Bull’s driver growth program Helmut Marko totally believes that Sir Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes are nonetheless title contenders, regardless of their poor begin to the 2022 season.
Mercedes, winners of the final eight Constructors’ Championships, have began this 12 months’s marketing campaign far off the tempo of rivals Ferrari and Crimson Bull, with their W13 machine affected by ‘porpoising’ points the place the automotive bounces up and down on the observe uncontrollably.
Based mostly on the primary two races of the season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the workforce don’t look in any form to problem for titles, even with seven-time world champion Hamilton and promising Brit George Russell on the wheel.
The German workforce have struggled to adapt to the brand new rules introduced in for this season, but Marko is certain that they may get well sooner somewhat than later.
The Austrian has confronted an identical scenario at Crimson Bull in 2014 when, after successful 4 consecutive Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships, the workforce struggled massively to even win races and it wasn’t till final 12 months that they lastly broke Mercedes’ grip with Max Verstappen pipping Hamilton to the title.
‘You must distinguish between the 2 instances,’ stated Marko when chatting with Formel1.de.
‘The post-2013 period coincided with the brand new engine guidelines and Mercedes had unbelievable dominance at that stage. They have been as much as two seconds forward of everybody, however logically they didn’t present it.
‘Now, with the change of chassis and engine, the variations aren't so huge. Mercedes can now not click on and immediately it’s a celebration for them. However the workforce are very properly positioned and now have some actually vital individuals within the chassis space.’
Marko, who has personally overseen the development of a number of nice Components 1 drivers, together with Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo, added: ‘I’m fully satisfied they may come again in the event that they management the porpoising. And Lewis Hamilton is 9 factors behind Verstappen, in order that’s nothing both.
‘I don’t assume it’s the top [of an era], however perhaps we’ll have a battle on the identical degree.’
Because it stands Mercedes are second within the championship, 40 factors off leaders Ferrari and only one forward of Crimson Bull, though that's largely all the way down to each Crimson Bull vehicles failing to complete the season opener in Bahrain having been method forward of the Silver Arrows for a lot of the race.
The F1 season continues this weekend in Australia with the race getting underway on Sunday at 6am BST.
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