Alain Prost believes he has seen a weakness in Lewis Hamilton that can enable Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel to claim the 2018 Formula 1 crown.
The Frenchman admitted he was wrong when he doubted the Scuderia’s chances before the 2017 season claiming at the time that “every time there is a change of regulation, Ferrari was rarely there”.
Instead, it was the Italian team that emerged as the main threat to Mercedes and have continued to do so this season with two wins and three pole positions, even if poor results in recent races for Vettel means Hamilton is currently leading the championship.
“In the winter Mercedes and Red Bull seemed to be a little better, but it turned out that they (Ferrari) are there in qualifying and tyre management,” he said to Italy’s Autosprint on Monday.
“Also Raikkonen is there at Vettel’s level which will be a great help. I think this year Ferrari can win [the title].”
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The four-time champion, who is now an advisor at Renault, believes Ferrari’s improvement and the closer competition is also having a negative impact on Hamilton, which he thinks the Maranello squad can capitalise on.
“The six drivers for Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull can be competitive in all circumstances. It’s more difficult for Hamilton, who has usually fought for championships against single drivers only,” Prost claimed.
“Now he will not be able to manage races in the same way against four or five competitors, but for us it will be exciting.”
