Mark Webber believes Formula 1’s disrupted 2020 season is “set up” for Lewis Hamilton to claim his seventh championship.
Next month, F1 will finally return seven months following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last December with an initial calendar of eight races in 10 weeks already confirmed, though a minimum of 15 rounds is being targeted.
But because so much emphasis on the condensed schedule will require being quick from the get-go, the former Red Bull driver thinks that suits Hamilton more than anyone else.
“I think it’s Lewis,” Webber said picking his 2020 champion on the F1 Nation podcast.
“Yeah, this is set up for him: no mileage, disrupted programme, this is a guy that doesn’t need to hit tennis balls. He’s just a guy that can get on with it at very, very short notice so I think for him it’s going to be very, very special.”
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With so many races in such a tight timeframe, as December 13 is earmarked for the Abu Dhabi finale, the drivers are facing quite the challenge physically, particularly after a long break.
Webber though thinks generating momentum will be crucial to staying sharp when the early rush wears off.
“They’re like caged lions at the moment, they’re ready to go,” he declared.
“It’s going to go from rustiness to being super-sharp and then to be tired or tired-ish mentally because you’re going to have to come out of the gates well in terms of your confidence in the car, tyres, aero.
“In Formula 1, we like to have a bit of time to get ourselves settled, that’s also on the engineering and technical side, but they are going to come at you pretty quick.
“If your confidence is high, bring it on, bring the races on, if you’re flying, you’ll have one every weekend.
“But if you are a little bit on the back foot I think the guys will say ‘yeah well it’s getting a bit tricky, it’s hard ‘ or whatever.
“They’re all in the same boat, that’s the great thing about It – no-one’s coming back from an injury or [starting] mid-season or whatever,” the Aussie added.
“Yes, there’s been a few guys been able to run old cars and whatnot but ultimately, when they drive out the pitane in Austria and have basically what is a serious test session with a race on the end of it, and world champions points stake, it’s going to get real very, very quickly.”