Hamilton fears Red Bull will dominate ‘for years’ as Brit makes demand

Lewis Hamilton has warned Red Bull could control F1 for years and has called on Mercedes engineers to “adapt” to the new rules. Hamilton suggested Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez could keep winning for the duration of the current rules cycle unless major changes are introduced at the Silver Arrows.

The current regulations came into force at the start of 2022 with Verstappen picking up 15 wins in a record-breaking year. The regulations will run until the end of the 2025 campaign meaning Red Bull could have another two more seasons of winning titles after this one before a chance to reset.

Hamilton has called on Mercedes to change their thinking in order to salvage what has been another dismal campaign for the squad. In Miami, he said: “All I can say is that we’re working as hard as we can to close up and get back and give them more of a fight.

“It’s just unfortunate that we still see the same sort of gaps between the teams. I don’t know what the solution is for the future, but we are going to have to adapt to these regulations. Otherwise it could be the same as it is now for years.”

In a major blow for Hamilton, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff even suggested the team are unsure of how to fix their current lack of pace. The Austrian stressed there is a “lack of understanding” about the machine even after five races.

He explained: “I think that the car is not a nice car, not a good car. It’s everywhere. It’s the pace, the performance of the car, it’s the lack of understanding of the car [about why] it is not delivering. It is the full spread of activities. I would say the performance is just really bad.

“It’s a lack of comprehension of what it is that makes this car such a nasty piece of work.” Mercedes have new upgrades lined up for the next event at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola.

The new package will see the team install major aerodynamic upgrades. Wolff has also confirmed a new floor is also in the pipeline alongside a new front suspension.

However, the Mercedes boss has warned fans shouldn’t expect the changes to elevate the German marque above Red Bull straight from the off. He revealed the budget cap had limited the team’s potential changes with a new chassis also in the pipeline.

Wolff added: “We just need to manage everybody’s expectation because we’re talking so much about that upgrade. We’re not going to put it down on the track and then drive circles around Red Bull, but it’s going be a good baseline, I think.

“If we were completely free, we would bring a different chassis, and so what we have to decide really carefully is what we want to upgrade.”