Former Formula 1 driver Mark Webber believes Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes will be too strong for their rivals again in 2020.
This season sees the Briton bid to join Michael Schumacher as a seven-time world champion and certainly has all the momentum with him having won the title in five of the past six years.
Mercedes’ main challengers, Ferrari and Red Bull, are tipped to be closer than ever heading into the new year, but Webber doesn’t think it will be enough
“I think Merc will be too tough for them to handle, operationally and with Lewis,” the Australian told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“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.”
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Even if the Brackley-based team are ahead again, there’s always Valtteri Bottas who could potentially challenge Hamilton…
“Nothing against Valtteri, [but] Hamilton is one of the greats of the sport in the last 70 years, he is a headache for everyone and I don’t know who would be comfortable sitting beside him,” the ex-Red Bull driver added.
“He gave Fernando Alonso a bit of a touch up in his first season 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.”
The last man to beat Hamilton was, of course, Nico Rosberg back in 2016, who promptly retired just days after winning his only championship.
In doing so, the relationship between the pair became very turbulent as the German destabilised the Briton, but he believes that remains the only way to beat him.
“I remember realising that his [Hamilton’s] defences had been broken when he started playing with Snapchat during a press conference,” he recalled to AutoHebdo.
“The next day, he performed poorly. It all plays a role. It may seem insignificant, but these things can unsettle you.
“It must be understood that the more you attack him and the more aggressive you get with him, the stronger he becomes.
“Valtteri needs to always be there as a strong opponent performing with stability. He needs to become obsessive so that Lewis feels his presence.”