Formula One Managing Director of Motorsports Ross Brawn has warned that we could see a fifth straight year of Mercedes dominating the sport in 2018.
In each of the past four seasons, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport have dominated Formula One. They have now won the past four constructors championships and they have had the drivers champion in each of those four seasons as well.
In fact, up until this past season, the top two drivers in the final standings drove for Mercedes in each of the last three years. While they were unable to secure a fourth consecutive 1-2 finish in the drivers standings this past season in Valtteri Bottas’ first season driving for the team, they both still finished in the top three, with Lewis Hamilton winning his fourth career championship and Bottas finishing in 3rd place.
While it is widely believed that teams such as Scuderia Ferrari and Red Bull Racing will close to gap to Mercedes ahead of next season, Formula One Managing Director of Motorsports Ross Brawn has warned that Mercedes, particularly Lewis Hamilton, could be dominant yet again in the 2018 season.
Here is what Brawn said about the subject, according to Express.co.uk.
"“They’ve got a great group of people, but my slight worry is that they will get even stronger now. They’ve had a change of senior management and that was in the middle of a regulation change, which is not easy. I strongly suspect (problems) are not going to be the case next year. So I just see – unfortunately in many ways – a continuation of the steamroller. Let’s hope I’m wrong!”"
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Over the past four seasons, Mercedes drivers have won 63 of the 79 races that have been contested. Lewis Hamilton has been responsible for 40 of those 63 wins, giving him victories in more than half of the races held over the last four years. Of those 40 wins, nine of them came this past season en route to his fourth career Formula One championship and his third in the last four years.
Nico Rosberg, who won the only championship that Lewis Hamilton did not over the last four years in the 2016 season, was responsible for 20 of those 63 wins from the 2014 season to the 2016 season before he retired, and Valtteri Bottas has been responsible for three of those 63 wins, all of which coming this past season in his first season driving for Mercedes.
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Will Mercedes continue their dominance in the 2018 Formula One season, or will teams such as Ferrari and Red Bull Racing catch up? The season begins in just over three and a half months on Sunday, March 25th with the Australian Grand Prix, a race won this past season by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.
“They’ve got a great group of people, but my slight worry is that they will get even stronger now. They’ve had a change of senior management and that was in the middle of a regulation change, which is not easy. I strongly suspect (problems) are not going to be the case next year. So I just see – unfortunately in many ways – a continuation of the steamroller. Let’s hope I’m wrong!”