Formula One fans have tipped Lewis Hamilton to finish behind the likes of Fernando Alonso and George Russell in the Drivers’ Championship standings this year following his muted start to the 2023 campaign. The 38-year-old has only managed to claim a single podium finish in the opening five races and is already out of contention to battle Max Verstappen for the end-of-season honours, with Red Bull simply in a league of their own at the front as things stand.
Hamilton currently leads Russell in the standings by a margin of 16 points but remains 19 points behind Alonso, who has enjoyed an impressive start to the season after making the most of Aston Martin’s recent improvements with his on-track performances. It seems as though Express Sport readers are expecting Hamilton to end up below the pair at the end of the campaign, though, which would mark another crushing blow for the Brit as he continues to struggle at Mercedes.
And 65 per cent of respondents to our latest F1 poll believe that Russell will eventually overtake Hamilton on points, with the man from King’s Lynn having finished above his Mercedes team-mate at the end of his first season at the team last year. Meanwhile, a resounding 86 per cent of voters are backing Alonso to join Russell in finishing ahead of Hamilton after getting on the podium four times in his last five Grand Prix weekends.
Hamilton will have his work cut out to leapfrog Alonso over the course of this year given the strides made by Aston Martin, who are now quicker than Mercedes despite using power units supplied by the Silver Arrows after finding plenty of speed over the winter. It will also be difficult for Hamilton to stay ahead of Russell if the latter manages to build on his positive momentum after claiming a fourth-placed finish in Miami earlier this month.
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It remains to be seen where Hamilton will end up in the standings once all has been said and done, with the seven-time champion almost certain to be frustrated in his efforts to seal a record-breaking eighth Drivers’ Championship triumph. He is, of course, currently tied with Michael Schumacher at the top of the all-time leaderboard and has alluded to a desire to secure another title before he eventually decides to call time on his racing career.
Hamilton will need to focus on securing his immediate future with Mercedes before worrying about his next chance to make history, though, with his existing contract set to run down at the end of the season as things stand. Silver Arrows team principal Toto Wolff recently admitted that he has found it somewhat awkward to negotiate a new deal with Hamilton over the last few weeks, hinting that much of the delay has been down to embarrassment over discussing the financial side of things.
“It’s super embarrassing,” said Wolff. “Every three years, we know that we have this moment. And it’s like negotiating the financial terms with your best friend with a close friend. How do you go about it? Normally, you don’t have a situation like that.
“I want the best for him, but in this role, I need the best for the team. It may be the only time in our ten or eleven years that we’re together and our goals diverge.”
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