Ralf Schumacher does not expect the dominance of Red Bull and Max Verstappen to end in the upcoming Formula 1 season.
Even if the former pilot and current TV expert especially wants a strong former industry leader back in the fight for the world championship in the record season with 24 Grand Prix. “It would be very, very important for Formula 1 to have a strong Mercedes at the front again,” he said in an interview with the German Press Agency.
Will the Silver Arrows turn things around?
Before the American Haas team began presenting the new cars on Friday, the 48-year-old emphasized with a view to the German works team: “Mercedes has to get around the corner as quickly as possible, no question about it. If not, it would be a continuous weakness mean.”
Mercedes has only managed one victory in the past two years. In the fight for his eighth world title, which would make him the sole record champion ahead of Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton had no chance. Teammate George Russell, who took his only victory in the past 24 months in Brazil in 2022, also couldn’t do much else with the car.
If this continues, it would “mean that we obviously no longer understand how to build a winning car. And that would be fatal for a brand like Mercedes and with the successes in recent years,” said Ralf Schumacher. But he believes that the Silver Arrows will turn things around.
New car announced
Team boss Toto Wolff had already announced a completely new car for this year, although the rules haven’t changed much. The car will be presented on February 14th, and Red Bull will unveil the new car one day later.
And Ralf Schumacher assumes that after last year’s splendid season with Verstappen’s third title in a row and winning the constructors’ championship again, Red Bull “will have something surprising in store for the coming season that will amaze some people “. He predicted almost a month before the season opener with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 2nd: “There is relatively little to suggest that Max Verstappen and Red Bull will not continue their dominance.”
Race calendar Driver field Teams Statements Wolff about the new car Statements from former world champion Jenson Button
