Former Mercedes chief points to Hamilton for Hungary win

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."