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Former F1 driver Mark Webber says Mercedes will be tough to beat in 2020, especially with “tenacious” Lewis Hamilton behind the wheel.
The Australian talked to Sydney Morning Herald and touched on Mercedes’ 2020 championship chances.
“I think Merc will be too tough for them to handle, operationally and with Lewis,” said Webber.
“The power unit is incredibly reliable with Mercedes, and Ferrari have shown signs of weakness in reliability phases.
“I would love to see Ferrari sitting on the front row. They were very good in qualifying last year, but there are no points in qualifying, you have to put the race together.
“That’s where Mercedes and strategy and Lewis [comes in]. It’s the whole thing. They just slowly strip you down.
“Nothing against Valtteri [Bottas], [but] Hamilton is one of the greats of the sport in the last 70 years. He is a headache for everyone. I don’t know who would be comfortable sitting beside him.
“He gave Fernando Alonso a bit of a touch up in Lewis’ first season alongside him in F1. Lewis is a ginormous, ginormous challenge for anyone.
“Valtteri is doing what he can, but Hamilton is a big problem for the opposition. He’s hungry and he’s still tenacious and he is reinventing himself, and that’s the extraordinary quality he has which is great to watch.”
Webber went on to say he believes Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and former non-executive chairman Niki Lauda played a large part in Lewis Hamilton’s return to the top of the sport after leaving McLaren at the end of 2012.
“I think in the middle of his career a few people were worried that it might not be as long a career as could happen.
“But then he got it really right back together, whether it was under guardianship of Niki Lauda and Toto Wolff, I would have imagined that had a big bearing on it.
“I know he’s enjoying a much better relationship with his father, which is great.
“He’s as stable as he’s ever been in his life Monday to Friday, and that’s a reflection then of how he performs,” concluded the Australian.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
