Felipe Massa fears Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes will continue to dominate Formula 1 when the season finally begins.
Before the coronavirus, 2020 was set to be about Hamilton’s quest to match Michael Schumacher as a seven-time world champion while Red Bull and Ferrari appeared closer than ever to stop him.
The picture after testing though suggested Mercedes remained the team to beat and despite the much-delayed start, Massa believes that remains the case.
“From what I’ve seen so far, it seems that Mercedes with Lewis Hamilton is the fastest,” he told Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport via Instagram.
“I don’t think that fewer races is going to change that because the factories of the teams are closed.
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“I think Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen can become future world champions, but that means they have to win in these times where the difference between teams is greater than the influence of the driver,” the Brazilian added.
“The cars in these times are great, but nobody likes it when one team dominates.”
2016 world champion Nico Rosberg is more optimistic, however, and doesn’t think the battle is limited to just Hamilton vs. the next generation.
“I have very high hopes it is going to be incredibly exciting,” said the German.
“Last year we saw different winners. We saw Red Bull win, Ferrari win, I really believe there is a big possibility that continues into this season.
“If they step it up then that would be so awesome if the three teams went head-to-head and that would give us a spectacular Formula 1 season and that is all I wish for.
“This could be the year of the handover but it depends on the car, the challenge Verstappen, Leclerc, I wouldn’t count Valtteri Bottas out either, Sebastian Vettel will be in there.
“There are many drivers who if they have the right car they could be world champions and the handover could certainly happen from one generation to the next.”
