© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Sky Sports F1’s Natalie Pinkham says she believes Lewis Hamilton “will finish runner-up” in 2023, despite Sergio Perez driving a dominant Red Bull.
In 2023 Lewis Hamilton has performed masterfully, despite Mercedes still having trouble with their car. The Briton has so far had two second and two third place finishes, and he even managed to put his car on pole in Hungary.
At the moment he sits fourth in the Drivers’ Championship standings, one point behind third-placed Fernando Alonso, and 41 points behind second-placed Sergio Perez.
While discussing who will finish runner-up in the season, Sky Sports F1’s Natalie Pinkham said she believes Lewis will ultimately overtake Perez second place, despite the Mexican having the advantage of driving a much faster Red Bull.
“I’m going to say that Lewis Hamilton will finish runner-up because I fear Aston Martin’s decent run of form is over,” Pinkham said on Sky Sports F1 Podcast.
“Whether it is to do with this flexi-wing being outruled, or they have just gone down a bit of a cul-de-sac in terms of development, and it’s been exaggerated by the fact that others have done well, like McLaren,” she concluded.
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Max Verstappen’s former performance engineer Blake Hinsey, who also appeared on the podcast, believes Pinkham has a point, but ultimately he thinks Perez will manage to keep his second place.
“I see Natalie’s point as well, but I think Perez will finish runner-up,” Hinsey said.
“He had this little slump in form last year after the summer break and then came back towards the end of the season and he was fighting.
“I don’t remember that happening with him in the past. But I’m going to be boring and go for Perez, I think that’s almost a certainty.
“But [it’s] not guaranteed,” he concluded.
