Lewis Hamilton and George Russell strengthen as Mercedes makes a crucial decision in its battle with Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton still has a good chance of finishing second in this year’s Formula 1 drivers’ championship – with Max Verstappen almost certain to win the title.

Mercedes’ head of racing strategy has confirmed the team will benefit from further improvements this season  as they battle  Ferrari for P2.

Red Bull has won this year’s Constructors’ Championship after claiming P1 in all but one Grand Prix to date, with six remaining. Max Verstappen has impressively won  13 races and is almost guaranteed  a third consecutive Drivers’ Championship.

Although Mercedes did not win any titles this season, they were determined to finish second behind Red Bull in the constructors’ championship. They currently occupy the position but are only 20 points ahead of Ferrari, who have closed the gap in recent weeks.

Mercedes’ refusal to abandon the 2023 season is good news for drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, who are desperate to finish the season strongly. Hamilton could still finish second in the Drivers’ Championship,  just 33 points behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.

Mercedes head of racing strategy Rosie Wait has confirmed  upgrades to her W14 car after the Japanese GP. Hamilton finished  in fifth place, while Russell was seventh. Notably, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished  fourth and sixth, respectively.

“This decision is never as black and white as it seems,” Wait said  on YouTube. “While we will have to take advantage of the winter to carry out more fundamental developments to the W15, there are many things we can do with the current car that will  make it faster and help us learn and understand how to develop the car more easily. next year.”

“That’s what we’ve done and will continue to do. So the new parts we bring to the track do both; We hope to add more performance and make the current car  faster, but it’s all specifically aimed at areas where we need to “deepen our understanding.” “What we  learn from this year’s testing  will directly support the development of the W15. We must also not lose sight of the fact that we are in a tight battle for P2 with Ferrari and  the This championship is really important for everyone.” us, so we have improvements in the works and we’ll continue to make them in the car.

Although Mercedes wants to finish in P2, the desire to make the W15 a title-winning car is clear. Team boss Toto Wolff said “the sails are set for 2024” in an interview with the F1 website.

Mercedes has enjoyed considerable success since returning to F1 in 2010, winning eight consecutive constructors’ championships and seven consecutive drivers’ championships. However, they have struggled to compete with Red Bull over the past two seasons.