Lewis Hamilton finished his 300th Grand Prix of his F1 career in France. The Briton finished second and was delighted. A win in 2022 is yet to come but former Mercedes chief Norbert Haug believes the Briton can break 'the curse of three hundred races'.
Hamilton joins illustrious group
With three hundred GP's to his name Hamilton belongs to an illustrious group of F1-drivers after the French GP. Only six drivers have done three hundred F1 races or more. The top five drivers of this group, consisting of Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso, Rubens Barrichello, Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button, did not win a single race after the 300th. It is up to Hamilton to break this curse. Although that seems difficult with the current Mercedes in 2022, Haug thinks Hamilton does stand a chance.
Speaking to German Sky Sports the former vice president of motorsport operations at Mercedes said, "Someone who has won 103 races in F1 and is still so happy with a P2 is a real racer." Haug knows that Mercedes is having a tough time this year, but he sees an upward trend in the team. The German therefore does not rule out Hamilton managing to break the curse of three hundred races. "The prospect of Mercedes is not so bad. They work consistently. Mercedes have made everything possible and have put themselves in a position from where they can take a step forward in the last ten races of the season."
Can Hamilton repeat 2009 for Mercedes?
The Hungaroring in Budapest will be the next venue for Formula 1. The Hungarian Grand Prix is one of Hamilton's favourites; the Briton has won there eight times already. With Mercedes' upward trend and consistency, the Briton could cause some surprises. At least, Haug would not be too surprised. The German was involved with McLaren-Mercedes in 2009 and sees interesting similarities with 2022: "After a year with no wins until then, we managed to take some good upgrades and score our first victory. It was historic. It would be a nice repeat."
This is a huge deal to be praised by ex-Merc chief. What a legend.
Anything other than a Ferrari win in Hungary will be an upset. Their car is too strong and it suits that circuit perfectly. After that, Red Bull. But Mercedes will be much closer in time, I think, and not just because the circuit is short. I am going with Sainz. He was mega today and he will have the fresh power plant as well, if they choose to use it.
Ham to get the win and keep his record of being the only driver in history to score at least 1 victory in every season he's competed in and become the ONLY driver to score a won after 300 GP's !!
.......if they dont shoot themselves in the foot again. Unfortunately a common occurrence for Ferrari.
Its not a power demanding circuit, so i think Ferrari will be safer there.
I think they have the fastest car but they mask their performance with mistake after mistake. Its truly sad what is going on there.
Im going for a surprise Alonso victory. Its Hungary and strange things always happen.
That would be a surprise to even Alonso unless he can talk Ocon into making the same move as Piquet did for him.
The Alpine is quite handy around tight twisty tracks and Alonso has been on fire this year in general. Hungary is renown for weird results over the years. Lets not forget Hill in the Arrows that trundled around at the back all season but out of the blue was super competitive at Hungary. Button in the Renault that was quite poor, or again in the Honda that was a dog. Then Ocon last year thanks to Alonso being handy around this track keeping Hamilton behind for so long. Been many others over the years.
Ok, i see where your going but Max's Red Bull was damaged in a first lap crash, which took out five cars and a tactical error dropped pole-sitter Hamilton to last place. But if you think Alonso could get a surprise victory i will say its possible.
Lol they love big merc up to win they ent going win in hungry.or are they going do last year trick take as many cars out becouse russell been practising lol
Christian Horner and Marko on the phone to the FIA as we speak lol
Max's body language was really weird when he saw Lewis and George up there.
He doesn't understand how you can make it on to a podium without an illegal floor?
The booing from the fans towards Max (from LeClerc fans apparently)was unsporstmanlike but appears to be a sentiment shared around the world.
Dude you are on Crack! Some of the stupid things said on both sides is amazing. Shaka get something more worthwhile in your life than this.
Why doesn't it surprise me when I see your comment on this article at the top?
Op topic: I will hope that Mercedes will join the fight for a race win. And I do hope they play it fair. Not whining at the FIA for adjusting regulations. But to win fair and square.
Popular on GPBlog
Marko draws painful conclusion for Verstappen and Red Bull Racing after Friday in Bahrain
Longruns back Verstappen and Marko: Red Bull falls short
F1 Full results for FP2 in Bahrain: Piastri destroys Verstappen's and Russell's hopes
