Gerhard Berger has dismissed Lewis Hamilton’s fears that Red Bull already have a huge advantage over the rest of the F1 grid heading into 2024.
Red Bull dominated the 2023 season, winning all but one of the 22 races, with only Carlos Sainz’s Grand Prix victory in Singapore ruining the season.
After Red Bull won their third consecutive Drivers’ title with Max Verstappen and comfortably staved off their rivals in the Constructors’ Championship, many are now convinced that Red Bull has already made great strides towards winning the title. I am concerned that this is not the case. It was created at the beginning of the season when developing the 2024 car.
Lewis Hamilton says it’s true that his Mercedes team will be looking to bounce back against his nemesis over the winter in a bid to end a one-win drought since 2021.
But when brought to Berger’s attention, Hamilton’s verdict on Red Bull’s potential superiority next season was this: The 10-time Grand Prix winner and former teammate of Ayrton Senna said fans would He argued that it might come as a surprise.
“It’s just a F1 word, we can start the new year with less pressure,” Berger told Kronen Zeitung.
“I think Red Bull are the clear favorites, but F1 is always good for surprises and something can always happen. I’m definitely looking forward to 2024.”
But Berger: Already citing Hamilton’s 103 wins as a realistic target this year, Verstappen insists he still has the potential to break many big records in F1.
“I trust Max to break all the existing records in Formula 1,” said the former Ferrari driver.
“Including Hamilton’s 103 wins. Although he says today that it’s not important to him, that will change.”