Mercedes’ recent uptick in form will offer Lewis Hamilton a chance to end his tenure with the team on a high at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
That is the view of RacingNews365 lead editor Ian Parkes, speaking on the most recent episode of this publication’s F1 podcast.
Mercedes has struggled for performance since the 2022 campaign when fresh technical regulations were brought into play.
However, strong progress has been made of late with Mercedes emerging victorious at three out of the last four races, with two of the wins going Hamilton’s way.
Parkes has backed Hamilton to win more grands prix before the year is out.
“I think the confidence is absolutely going to be there,” he stated. “He won at Silverstone on merit, that was without a shadow of a doubt.
“With regard to Spa, yes, it was inherited, because obviously his team-mate George Russell was disqualified.
“However, the performance of the W15 around that track, particularly after what had happened in practice on Friday when the team had brought new updates.
“They took them off the car, went back to the old spec, and they’ve kind of realised, ‘Hold on, we seem to really have something here.
“With these wins, two out of three for Lewis, three out of four for Mercedes in total – and yes, I appreciate Austria was another inherited win for George – they are going to be looking and thinking, ‘do you know what? We could actually win another few more here. We’re on the right track with this car’.”
The ongoing campaign is Hamilton’s final at Mercedes before he leaves to join Ferrari alongside Charles Leclerc.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December will offer Hamilton his last chance to take a victory for Mercedes – which Parkes believes will be a fitting end to his tenure, three years on from the 2021 title controversy.
“So can you imagine going into Abu Dhabi, and Lewis winning there?” Parkes pondered.
“Just to finish with a win in Abu Dhabi, on that high, three years after what transpired in 2021 at Abu Dhabi, of course.
“I can imagine it would be quite some moment for Lewis and Mercedes if that were to happen.
“There’s every chance of that happening given what we’ve seen from the performance of that car.”