Former Formula 1 star Gerhard Berger has laughed at suggestions Lewis Hamilton can win the French Grand Prix - and he even asked Damon Hill if he had been drinking after the Brit picked the Mercedes star to win this weekend.
Mercedes have seemingly improved over the last few races with the W13 no longer suffering from the porpoising phenomenon that threatened to derail their season. It has led to optimism from Hamilton that he can claim a win and continue his run of crossing the checkered line first in each and every season of his career
The best result the Silver Arrows have achieved in 2022 is P3, which Hamilton has claimed four times while teammate George Russell has finished third on three occasions. Mercedes have managed to make it to the podium at each of the last four races, with Hamilton securing three successive P3 finishes.
Ultimately, Mercedes’ W13 is finding performance as the season goes on and the smooth surface of the French GP venue could play to the strengths of the frustrating, inconsistent. In fact, Hamilton and Russell could even compete for the win alongside Red Bull and Ferrari
Berger joined hosts Damon Hill and Tom Clarkson on the F1 Nation podcast to discuss the possibility of Mercedes claiming a win. However, the Austrian stayed grounded when he discussed the possibility, although he did suggest Mercedes could be more competitive than they have been this season after Toto Wolff claimed Mercedes have halved the pace deficit to the leading cars since the start of the season.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Berger replied. “The Mercedes hasn’t worked 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 will play a role to win the race.
“Paul Ricard has always been a little bit different. It’s very smooth. It’s a very different style of circuit. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Mercedes works a bit better there, it’s very flat. But in general, it will be again a fight between Red Bull and Ferrari.”
As Clarkson and Hill both suggested Mercedes could be the best car on the grid, the duo put forward scenarios of Hamilton taking the win ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen or Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Hill, the 1996 F1 world champion with Williams, even suggested Mercedes may secure an unlikely one-two with Hamilton and Russell crossing the line first and second respectively.
Berger was having none of it though, asking the hosts: “Which passport do you have?What’s going on with you guys, are you drinking or what?”
Hill and Clarkson joined Berger in hysterics before the 10-time Grand Prix winner was asked how Hamilton is feeling to be piloting less competitive machinery in 2022. Berger added: “For him, the toughest is that he lost the championship last year, because last year he would have put himself in the books as the most successful Formula 1 driver ever.
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“Not winning the championship means it’s Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton. This, for him, in the way how he seeks to beat all the records, which has been very impressive until now, this is something where he needs to still win one championship.
“It could be really difficult because now, with the new regulations, Mercedes have first to catch up with the others. Not thinking about having an advantage, as they had very often in the last years. So now it could be a long way [away].
“But in Formula 1, saying ‘I need to win the championship’, it doesn’t work. I think this is something where, for him, it is probably a difficult situation. Then having the car as he has now, you can see [that] when the car starts to work a bit better, he can go to the podium and he finds his performance again.”
The 22-race F1 2022 campaign continues with the French Grand Prix at Circuit Paul Ricard on July 24.
