Tough task for Hamilton: 'Verstappen has even more confidence now'

Internal strife at Mercedes

Mercedes have opted to sideline Valtteri Bottas for its own talent George Russell in 2022. The young Briton has been asserting himself at Williams for years and had had hoped to make the switch to the German team before, but he had to be patient until this season. So, the Brit will be keen to prove himself.

Surely this will create a new dynamic within the Mercedes team. Since the departure of Nico Rosberg there has not really been a fight within the team, because Bottas simply was not able to really challenge Hamilton. Russell is considered a great promise and may not be as easy to dominate as Bottas was.

Tough task for Hamilton

Kravitz therefore argues that Russell should go for the world title as a driver with Mercedes. It would, of course, be a dream for Russell if he succeeds in doing so in his first year with the team, because he would to beat Hamilton from the get-go. Kravitz does, however, stress how tough the task will be for the seven-time world champion in 2022.

''He has to get over the pain of Abu Dhabi, and he needs to be reassured by the FIA that everything is going to be fair. And then he needs to deal with a hotshot new team-mate, and deal with Max Verstappen, who's going to be high on confidence of course. It's such a big job for Hamilton'', concludes the Sky analyst.