"Niki was there": Guenther Steiner was confident that Lewis Hamilton would be successful in Mercedes in 2013

Former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner claimed that former three-time world champion Niki Lauda was confident that Lewis Hamilton would be successful at Mercedes when he made the move in 2013. The British driver shocked the world of F1 when he decided to leave McLaren at the end of the 2012 season to join Mercedes, who were behind the Woking-based team in terms of both results and performance.

However, despite initial skepticism, Hamilton and Mercedes have become the most successful driver team pairing in F1 history - but Steiner was confident all along.

While appearing on "The Red Flags Podcast", the former Haas team principal spoke about the influence of Lauda in the team and the key part he played in getting Lewis Hamilton from McLaren.

"I was quite confident because Niki was there at the time and you know I know Niki and I know Niki told me that they were in a good place. They wanted to have success at all costs. So there were no stops in the way and at the time Toto was new as a team principal," Steiner said. [at 39:00]

"So nobody had any knowledge of how good he would be but it gave me confidence that Niki was there in the beginning, and Ross Brawn was still (there). There were good people there so that gave me confidence."

Notably, with Hamilton now on the other end of his partnership with Mercedes, his father Anthony recently stated that he would tell his son clearly if he believed that the seven-time world champion didn't have what it takes to fight at the front anymore.

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Lewis Hamilton's father provides an update regarding the Mercedes driver's retirement

Anthony Hamilton spoke about his 39-year-old son's journey in F1 with Sky Sports and reflected:

“The thing is, when Lewis hasn’t got it, I’ll let you know. Don’t forget, he started this when he was eight years of age. We started from a council house, we worked hard to get to where we are, and every day he still does the same graft, so he never comes half-hearted, he comes full-hearted and gives his all.”

He also spoke about his son's emotional outburst after he won the 2024 British GP to F1TV:

“It’s one of those things – you always want the best for your kids and for your family, and I just wanted to be there for Lewis. It was nice to be there because he had a lot of emotion to let loose, and I’m the only guy I’m sure that he’d be able to do that with, so it was great to be there.”

Lewis Hamilton's win at Silverstone last weekend was his first in over 940 days. He last won in Saudi Arabia in 2021 while fighting against Max Verstappen in an epic title tussle.