“It’s going to be one hell of a second half of the season” : Lewis Hamilton has high hopes for the remainder of the year
The 2024 F1 season has been one for the ages, due to its highly competitive nature till now, as seven different drivers have already won a Grand Prix. The top four teams – Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes in the constructor’s standings have been battling it out, and with 10 scheduled races left for the season, nothing can be ruled out just yet.
Max Verstappen has continued his dominance from past seasons as Red Bull has maintained a strong lead going into the second half. Meanwhile, Lando Norris is leading the charge as a standout performer for McLaren and the duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are not far off their tails.
F1 veteran Lewis Hamilton himself is excited for the rest of the season and is impressed by the competition he has been facing, but seeing that it is his last stint at Mercedes, the Briton would like to leave on a high note.
“It’s really fantastic, I think, for the sport, to be having such close teams and drivers, the pedigree of drivers at the top today are really elite and amazing,” said Lewis Hamilton (via Formula 1).
“It would be high hopes” : Lewis Hamilton on having a late title charge
Mercedes have gradually improved throughout the course of the season, but the Briton did not expect to compete with the top challengers. He believes that the hopes for a title charge are a little too late now, although if they can keep up with their recent form they can certainly aim for a better finish.
“We didn’t expect to be competing with the McLarens or the Red Bulls at this point in the season, you know, with how we started off, so for us to now have closed up and be… It’s going to be one hell of a second half of the season, for sure.” said the Briton.
“I mean, if we can continue this kind of performance as we’ve had the last few races, which has been fantastic… I think if we can start our weekends off a little bit better, hopefully we can continue. I think, obviously, the McLaren was very strong [in Belgium], we were just a bit further ahead early on [in the race], but yeah, we’ve just got to keep pushing,” the 39-year-old added.
Lewis Hamilton’s teammate George Russell believes that the late resurgence of Mercedes will lead them to perform better in the next season. The promising young talent has often been considered as a future World Championship contender, with his growing experience an important asset for Mercedes to extract from going into the 2025 season. Russell will definitely be the main man for the AMG Petronas once Hamilton leaves for Ferrari.
“I think for all of us, it’s been a difficult couple of years getting the car into a place where we can consistently fight for victories, but I’m so motivated, so excited for the second half of the season, which is ultimately building up towards 2025, when you look at the competition now, you know, there’s no reason why we can’t fight, and if the season started in Montreal, the championship standings would be looking very, very different,” said the 26-year-old.
“It’s going to be great. I think there’s so much motivation from all the other teams to get back to the front, from McLaren, from Ferrari, from ourselves, so for sure, it’s not going to be easy, and hopefully we see a good fight on our hands into next year,” Russell concluded.
F1 fans are surely in for a ride for the second half of the season, as all roads lead to a competitive and exciting finish.
Also Read: “It is not impossible” : Lewis Hamilton on Lando Norris challenging Max Verstappen for the F1 title
