Damon Hill, the 1996 World Champion, believes Mercedes may finally take home a victory in this weekend’s French Grand Prix, the team’s first race victory of the year.
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes are expected to “spring a big shock” and defeat Red Bull and Ferrari to win the French Grand Prix, according to Damon Hill.
The 11 racing triumphs so far this season have been split evenly between Red Bull and Ferrari, with the top contenders having a significant advantage over Mercedes and the rest of the field.
Mercedes, meanwhile, have been getting closer to the front at latest events after overcoming numerous early-season difficulties, including porpoising.
Among them, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have won seven podiums, with Hamilton taking three of those spots in the last three races.
Hill predicts a surprise from Hamilton and Mercedes
Hill anticipates strong performance from the Silver Arrows this weekend, given that Paul Ricard is famed for its “billiard table” racing surface and Mercedes performed well at smoother tracks like Barcelona and Silverstone earlier this season.
“It’s a smooth track, brilliant for aerodynamics,” the 1996 World Champion said on the F1 Nation podcast.
“This may help Mercedes if they haven’t fixed their porpoising or they need to get that car low to the ground.”
When challenged with predictions, Hill responded, “I’m going Lewis Hamilton.
“I think there’s going to be an incident. I think that first corner is a bit tricky, the little chicane thing. Let’s say Charles [Leclerc] loses his front wing, or Max [Verstappen] gets a puncture or something like that.
“Maybe even on pure pace, the Mercedes springs a surprise, because I think in their race trim Lewis has been on occasions very, very quick.
“It could even be Lewis first, George second and Carlos Sainz third. How about that?”
Berger doubts Hill’s prediction
In agreement with Hill, host Tom Clarkson said, “I think Mercedes are going to let rip this weekend and be incredibly remarkable, and we’re going to see Lewis Hamilton back to his best.
“So Hamilton first… God, can you imagine if we had Hamilton, Verstappen and Leclerc all going for the win?”
The podcast’s other participant, Gerhard Berger, joked that Hill and Clarkson had been “drinking” after hearing their predictions.
“No, I wouldn’t go that far,” said the 10-time Grand Prix winner, when asked if he thinks Hamilton and Mercedes can fight for victory at Paul Ricard.
“The Mercedes didn’t work really well anywhere this year. It could be maybe a bit better, but I don’t think it will go so much in this direction that they suddenly are going to play a role to win the race.
“Let’s put Max winning the race, [followed by] Leclerc and Sainz.”
Below are some of the most well-known FORMULA 1 drivers’ apparels, all of which are available at reasonable costs. Visit our link now if you are interested in the racing clothing collection:
F1, F1 2022, Formula 1, French GP, Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Damon Hill, Toto Wolff
