Lewis Hamilton sets disappointing timeline on when Mercedes could catch Red Bull

Lewis Hamilton is certain it will take Mercedes the rest of the year to catch up to Red Bull. The Silver Arrows are experiencing a bittersweet season so far, with the Briton taking P2 at the 2023 Australian GP.

This year, Mercedes and their other competitors have been overshadowed by the Milton Keynes squad, with the RB19 being up to a second quicker per lap in race configuration during the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

Although the reigning world champion's lead was slightly diminished in Saudi Arabia, the performance in Australia, where Hamilton secured second place, was not accurately portrayed due to two red flag stoppages.

As a result, Lewis Hamilton claims it will take his team a long time to catch up to the Bulls, who have won every race so far in 2023. The world champion said, as per Motorsport-Total.com:

“We have to make sure to implement changes. I just hope this task doesn’t prove too big. It will certainly take the rest of the year to possibly close the gap. It can take a long time to catch another car. I’m aware of that. And the Red Bull is very likely to be developed further.”

F1 pundit claims the Lewis Hamilton-Mercedes era is over

According to Dutch F1 commentator Rob Kamphues, the era of dominance for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes has ended. Kamphues pointed to the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, where Max Verstappen won his first championship in the sport, as the conclusion of the Mercedes era.

Despite Hamilton's tireless pursuit of his eighth title victory, his team has been unable to provide him with a competitive car to challenge the new front-runners, Red Bull. In the new ground-effect era of F1, the Silver Arrows were unable to fully comprehend the aerodynamic regulations of 2022, placing them at a disadvantage compared to other teams.

Since 2021, the seven-time world champion has not won a race and was outperformed by his younger teammate George Russell in 2022. In Formule 1 Magazine, the Dutchman wrote:

“Could something have snapped in the great champion? Lewis hasn’t won a race since that day, he hasn’t achieved pole, he’s never even started from the front row. In 2022, he also finished behind his younger team-mate in the championship and that younger team-mate also won the only race Mercedes won. Not to mention this season."

However, with Red Bull set to face the brunt of their wind tunnel testing penalty later this year, the Brackley-based squad can remain hopeful of times to come.