Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, former Formula 1 world champion Damon Hill analyzed the performance of Mercedes and Scuderia Ferrari in the early stages of the 2023 Formula 1 championship, particularly during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. The British driver didn’t hold back his words when it came to the Italian team. Here is an excerpt of his comments.
Damon Hill’s analysis
When asked to analyze what was seen last weekend in Spain, Damon Hill emphasized the steps forward shown by Mercedes, with both cars on the podium at the Montmelo race.
“Mercedes demonstrated in the race that they have overcome the threat from Aston Martin and Ferrari on a circuit that is highly indicative of the car’s ability to take care of its tires and have a good aerodynamic balance,” said the 1996 world champion on the Sky Sports F1 podcast. “They have shown potential, and certainly the signs are encouraging for Mercedes. Hearing Lewis say, ‘I enjoy driving the car,’ is a good sign, and it indicates that Lewis (Hamilton) was right,” he added, referring to the many times the 38-year-old driver from Stevenage urged the team to change their approach and development direction.
Reflecting on the 2023 Formula 1 season in general, Damon Hill said, “It’s interesting in a way because we have seen quite a disparity in performance at different circuits. Apart from Red Bull, who are dominating on every track, everyone else is having headaches. There will still be some surprises between Canada and Silverstone.”
Finally, he addressed Scuderia Ferrari, criticizing Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc: “What can I say about Ferrari? When one is up, the other is down in the rankings. It’s as if they are always running on one leg. It seems there is always a problem with them.”
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Sky Sports F1 presenter Rachel Brookes pointed out that “my worry is Ferrari are going in the opposite direction. They changed their car and we saw a very different Ferrari in Spain. They are now trying to chase that route as well. Where is the other challenge going to come from? There is a lot of work for a lot of teams and head-scratching going on.”
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