Lewis Hamilton is more likely to walk away from Formula One than look for another team amid his Mercedes woes, according to former driver Anthony Davidson.
And Davidson, who worked with Hamilton as a simulator driver for Mercedes, believes they are the one team on the grid that can turn around their struggles to make them a force to be reckoned with again this season.
Hamilton vented his frustration at the last race, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, admitting he did not feel comfortable in the car as he finished fifth, a place behind team-mate George Russell. It led to question marks about his future and either looking for a drive elsewhere or walking away from the sport.
But Davidson, speaking ahead of Sunday's Australian Grand Prix, said: "I'd be very surprised if he joined another team. He's been with Mercedes since his karting days. He'd be getting to that age where he'd be thinking about an exit plan and what to do with the rest of his life. He could be a Mercedes ambassador for all time.
He mustn’t have a knee-jerk reaction like Alonso in the past, which hasn’t worked out well for him until now
"Put it this way, I'd be more surprised to see him change teams than walk away. But he says it with some conviction that he will carry on until he gets that eighth title.
"The team's given him so much and they won their eighth title. You'd have to say that, if anyone can turn it around, it'll be Mercedes. I'd say don't have a knee-jerk reaction like Fernando Alonso in the past, which hasn't worked out well for him until now. Just put faith in the team that they can turn it around."
Red Bull look in danger of running away with the drivers' and constructors' titles, with dominance in Jeddah of as much as 1.2 seconds a lap.
Sergio Perez produced what Red Bull team principal Christian Horner called his best race for the team but Davidson does not believe he has enough to push Verstappen for the rest of the season.
“I think a title fight between them is too much to hope for them,” said Davidson, speaking at the launch of Silverstone Museum’s On Track Scalextric Exhibit, where enthusiasts can race cars around a replica of the track that will host the British Grand Prix in July.
“Sergio showed on his day that he can match Max Verstappen. Fingers crossed he finds confidence from that and truly believes that he’s in a championship fight all the way.” The one hope Davidson has for closing up the fight between Red Bull and the rest of the grid is the 10 per cent reduction in wind tunnel use as punishment for breaking the cost cap.
Davidson, who now works as a television analyst and visited the Silverstone Museum with commentator David Croft, added: “That hasn’t come into effect yet. Aston Martin will have 60 to 70 per cent more wind tunnel use than Red Bull [as a result of their lowly finish in last year’s championship]. That’s huge.
“That’s what Red Bull’s mostly concerned about — the handbrake is coming on with their development. Things progress so rapidly in Formula One. Aston Martin are two seconds per lap faster than last year, if they find another second by halfway through the year then they’re on Red Bull speed.”
