LEWIS HAMILTON is confident Mercedes will win an F1 race this season following a “huge” result in Mexico.
The Brackley-based team, spearheaded by Hamilton and team-mate George Russell, experienced countless issues with the 2022 car earlier in the year, including relentless bouncing.
It left them way behind rivals Red Bull and Ferrari for speed as the Austrian and Italian teams dominated.
Neither Hamilton nor Russell have claimed a chequered flag yet – with just two races left of the season.
This could be the seven-time world champion’s first-ever season without a single race win in 16 years in F1.
But after a steady improvement in results – Hamilton finished second in the United States and Mexico GP with Russell fifth and fourth after qualifying in third and second respectively – the Stevenage star believes Mercedes will have something to celebrate before the end of the campaign.
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That is despite the team relinquishing their eight-year grip on the constructors’ title.
Hamilton, who sits fifth in the F1 drivers’ championship 200 points behind champion Max Verstappen, said: “I’m really happy to be up here and to be able to split the Red Bulls is a huge result for us.
“We brought an upgrade into the last race and that seems to have kind of closed the gap a little bit – they still have the edge – but it was amazing for us to be fighting in qualifying and have the second and third.
“I was speaking about in strategy about us taking a risk with one of the cars at least doing something different.
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“I had a gut feeling that they will be on the soft to start with and when everyone took their blankets off, everyone around us was on the softs and we’re on the mediums.
“At that moment, I thought that we may be in trouble.
“But then again, it’s a long, long race, so I thought maybe they’ll be on a two-stop. But that medium tyre just had no drop-off.
“So ultimately, I think they were on the right tyre strategy.
“But I am grateful I was able to just about keep up within that first stint. That’s huge, to be able to keep up with a Red Bull.”
The drivers have this weekend off and then head to Brazil for the penultimate race of the season.
Hamilton has enjoyed plenty of success in Sao Paulo including one of the best race wins of his career in 2021 to set up the dramatic finale in Abu Dhabi, where the 2022 season also culminates.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
