BERLIN – Only Michael Schumacher has won more Formula One world
championships than Lewis Hamilton but the British driver, backed by
his Mercedes team, can draw level with the German's record of seven
this season.
Schumacher's title haul, not to mention his 91 race victories, seem
unreachable until Hamilton and Mercedes clicked in such spectacular
fashion.
Hamilton has 84 wins to his name and ending the year the undisputed -
or as near to it as possible comparing eras - king of F1 is a
distinct possibility.
Ferrari, led by either Sebastian Vettel, Charles Leclerc or both,
will resist, as will Red Bull. In that garage there is little doubt
Max Verstappen represents their strongest hope.
"I hope the record doesn't fall," said the 32-year-old Vettel who won
four titles with Red Bull but has had five years of waiting with
Ferrari. "At the minute the job with the title is clear."
Vettel was outshone by the younger Leclerc last season and, out of
contract this year, urgently needs to prove he is still a viable
contender.
Too many errors and too few victories have marked Vettel's record
recently and Leclerc could well be the Scuderia's best hope of a
champion since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007.
"We all know how much talent Charles has," said Ferrari boss Louis
Camilleri.
But to challenge Hamilton and Mercedes, Ferrari must provide its
drivers with a capable car.
Last season they produced tremendous straight line speed, to the
extent rivals complained - and were infuriated when the governing FIA
closed the issue confidentially at the end of last month.
The 2019 Ferrari lacked downforce for cornering, however, a fatal
flaw they attempted to resolve. Pre-season testing has left it up in
the air if this has been achieved but the practice laps in Barcelona
gave the impression Mercedes are faster.
If that is true will only be discovered on March 15 in Australia with
the season-opening grand prix.
"We don't have a winning car for Melbourne," said Ferrari team chief
Mattia Binotto. "Others are currently quicker than us."
Hamilton, for his part, is focused only on his own car.
"I don't pay attention to anybody to anyone else through testing," he
told Sky Sports.
"We literally just focus on our job and I have no idea what other
people have been saying.
"I've been here a long, long time so I'm aware of people bigging us
up and talking themselves down so that they can potentially
overachieve unexpectedly or whatever.
April's Chinese Grand Prix has already been postponed because of
coronavirus, a known unknown hanging over the whole campaign.
Vietnam has been brought onto the schedule and the Netherlands
returns on what is still intended to be a 21-race marathon to late
November.
Over such long seasons, Hamilton's talent has usually prevailed -
only in 2016 did team-mate Nico Rosberg edge him out in the
championship.
Current team-mate Valtteri Bottas is not at that level and if Ferrari
struggle it could be Verstappen and Red Bull which offers the biggest
threat to the status quo.
"Max attack to 2023," Red Bull described the 22-year-old's contract
extension but they will hope it does not take that long to deliver
success, especially when rule changes from 2021 could help sink the
Mercedes ship.
Elsewhere, Racing Point have sparked controversy by producing a car
broadly similar to the 2019 Mercedes and McLaren will hope to close
in further on the top three after improving last year.
Renault, underwhelming since returning as a works team, face a
crucial few months with their future in the sport up in the air while
British team Williams will hope to return to being competitive after
an embarrassing last campaign.